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THE 

LIBRARY  OF  USEFUL  STORIES 


NORMAN  STAIRCASE,  CANTERBURY. 


THE  STORY  OF 

The  Art  of  building 


BY 

P.  LESLIE  WATERHOUSE,  M.  A. 

Christ's  college,  Cambridge  ;  associate  of  the 
royal  institute  of  british  architects 


WITH  AN  ACCOUNT  OF 
ARCHITECTURE  IN  AMERICA 

AND 

SIXTY-TWO  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 
D.   APPLETON    AND  COMPANY 
1 901 


Copyright,  1901, 
By  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


THE  GETTY  CEMTE^ 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


In  tracing  the  course  of  Architecture  in  this 
small  volume  it  has  been  possible  to  touch  only 
upon  the  salient  points  in  its  story,  for  it  is  a  far 
cry  from  the  Pyramids  to  S.  Paul's.  For  the 
guidance  of  those  who  wish  to  pursue  the  subject 
further,  a  list-  of  books  dealing  more  fully  with 
the  history,  or  with  particular  branches  of  it,  is 
appended. 

My  acknowledgments  are  due  to  Mr.  A.  H. 
Hart,,  who  has  prepared  several  of  the  illustra- 
tions, for  his  friendly  assistance  ;  and  to  Mr.  H. 
G.  Morrish  for  his  photographs  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral. 

P.  L.  W. 

9,  Staple  Inn,  Holborn,  W.C. 
September^  1901. 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTE. 

While  the  title  of  Mr.  Waterhouse's  book  in 
England  is  "The  Story  of  Architecture,"  the  fact 
that  D.  Appleton  and  Company  have  published  Mr. 
C.  T.  Mathews's  favourably  known  work  under 
that  title  has  made  a  change  in  the  name  es- 
sential. 

The  publishers  have  also  added  a  chapter 
upon  Architecture  in  America. 

5 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  m 

I.  Egyptian  Architecture  . 
II.  Greek  Architecture 

III.  Etruscan  and  Roman  Architecture 

IV.  Early  Christian  Architecture  . 
V.  Mohammedan  Architecture  . 

VI.  Romanesque  Architecture 

1.  Italy  

2.  France  

3.  Germany  

4.  Spain  ..... 

5.  England  ..... 

VII.  Gothic  Architecture 

1.  France  ..... 

2.  Great  Britain  .... 

3.  Italy  

4.  Germany  

5.  Belgium,  Spain,  etc.  . 

VIII.  Renaissance  Architecture 

1.  Italy   

2.  France  ..... 

3.  England  ..... 

IX.  Modern  Architecture  . 
X.  Architecture  in  America 

(Added  by  the  American  publishers.) 

6 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FIGURE  PAGE 

Norman  Staircase,  Canterbury  .       .  Frontispiece 

1.  Section  through  the  Great  Pyramid    .       .       .  .13 

2.  Corbelling  over  King's  Chamber        .       .       .  -14 

3.  Tomb  at  Beni-Hasan  .......  16 

4.  Section  through  Tomb  at  Beni-Hasan       .       .  .18 

5.  Plan  of  Ramessium     .......  25 

6.  Egyptian  Colmuns      .......  27 

7.  Assyrian  Column        .......  29 

8.  Capital  from  Persepolis      .       .       .       .       .  .31 

g.  Lion  Gate,  Mycenae  34 

10.  Section  through  the  Treasury  of  Atreus     .       .  .35 

11.  Plan  of  Small  Greek  Temple     .       .       .       .  -37 

12.  Plan  of  the  Parthenon        ......  39 

13.  The  Doric  Order  40 

14.  The  Parthenon  restored      ......  42 

15.  Doric  Capital,  showing  Colour  Decoration  .       .       .  45 

16.  Ionic  Order        ........  47 

17.  Ionic  Capital  from  the  Erechtheum    .       .       .  .49 

18.  Corinthian  Capital  51 

19.  Plan  of  Greek  Theatre       .       .       .       .       .  .52 

20.  Cloaca  Maxima  54 

21.  Composite  Capital  61 

22.  Plan  of  a  Roman  Temple  62 

23.  Maison  Carree,  Nimes        ......  66 

24.  Arch  of  Constantine    .......  70 

25.  Roman  Entablature    .  .....  71 

26.  Plan  of  Pantheon       .......  72 

27.  Plan  of  Basilica  Ulpia        .       .       .       .       .  -75 

28.  Plan  of  the  House  of  Pansa       ,       .       .       .  -77 

29.  Plan  of  S.  Paul's  Outside  the  Walls    .       .       .  .82 

7 


8 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


FIGURE  PAGE 

30.  Development  of  Basilica  85 

31.  Capital  with  dosseret,  Ravenna  .....  88 

32.  Diagram   .  .90 

33.  Cathedral  and  Leaning  Tower,  Pisa        .       .       .  106 

34.  Plan  of  Notre  Dame  du  Port  no 

35.  Section  through  Notre  Dame  du  Port      .       .  .111 

36.  Church  of  the  Apostles,  Cologne      .       .       .  .114 

37.  Plan  of  Church  of  the  Apostles         .       .       .  .115 

38.  Saxon  Window,  Earl's  Barton  .       .       .       .  .117 

39.  Plan  of  Sainte  Chapelle  123 

40.  Romanesque  contrasted  with  Gothic        .       .       .  124 

41.  Plan  of  Amiens  Cathedral  129 

42.  Part  of  Arcade,  Canterbury      .       .       .       .  .130 

43.  Choir,  Canterbury  Cathedral    .....  137 

44.  Plan  of  Salisbury  Cathedral  138 

45.  Durham  Cathedral    .......  140 

46.  Geometrical  Tracery        ......  142 

47.  Perpendicular  Window     .       .       .       .       .  .143 

48.  Early  English  Capital  146 

49.  Ball-flower  Ornament  146 

50.  Fa9ade  of  Doges'  Palace  153 

51.  Renaissance  Capital  .       .       .       .       .       .       .  164 

52.  Spinelli  Palace  167 

53.  Court-yard,  Cancellaria  Palace  .....  169 
54  Azay-le-Rideau        .......  175 

55.  Tower,  Wollaton  Hall   180 

56.  Section  through  Dome,  S.  Paul's      .       .       .  .186 

57.  Steeple  of  S.  Mary-le-Bow   189 

58.  American  Sky-scraper   195 

59.  Longfellow's  House,  Cambridge,  Mass.    .       .       .  198 

60.  The  Capitol  at  Washington   202 

61.  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  Mass   208 


THE  STORY 
OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


I. 

EGYPTIAN  ARCHITECTURE. 

A  COMPLETE  Story  of  Architecture  would  re- 
quire to  cover  as  great  a  period  of  time  as  the 
story  of  man  himself,  for  architecture  is  coeval 
with  man.  Man's  earliest  instinct  would  prompt 
him  to  provide  himself  with  food  and  shelter,  and 
in  constructing  for  himself  a  shelter  or  dwelling,  as 
a  protection  from  the  elements,  he  began  to  per- 
petrate architecture.  Before  the  days,  therefore, 
of  reading  and  writing,  prehistoric  man  began  to 
write  a  story  of  his  life  and  time  in  the  form  of 
buildings,  which,  from  earliest  times,  have  been  a 
reflection  of  his  character  and  of  his  mode  of  life. 

Unfortunately,  the  efforts  of  our  earlier  ances- 
tors in  the  field  of  architecture  have  entirely  dis- 
appeared. It  was  not  until  man,  in  the  course  of 
civilisation,  became  a  mighty  builder,  and  not  that 
only,  but  a  builder  in  materials  of  an  imperish- 
able nature,  that  he  was  able  to  leave  behind  him 
monuments  to  tell  the  story  of  his  life  to  future 
ages.  Thus  it  comes  about  that  it  is  impossible 
to  trace  the  growth  of  the  art  from  its  earliest 
beginnings,  and  to  follow  its  development  as  it 
grew  in  importance.    The  oldest  memorials  of 

9 


10  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


which  we  have  records — the  tombs  and  temples 
of  ancient  Egypt — were  the  work,  not  of  a  race  of 
primitive  men,  but  of  a  nation  which  had  already 
attained  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  construction 
which  later  builders  have  never  surpassed. 

The  waters  of  the  Nile  are  the  head-waters  of 
architecture.  On  the  banks  of  this  stream — the 
cradle  of  the  art — the  colossal  piles  of  these  early 
builders  still  command  the  wonder  of  all  who  see 
them;  while  the  most  ancient  of  them,  the  pyra- 
mids, have  remained  unchallenged  for  five  thou- 
sand years  as  the  greatest  of  all  architectural  un- 
dertakings. With  these  works  of  the  mysterious 
inhabitants  of  the  Nile  valley  begins  the  history 
of  architecture,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  of  it  can 
ever  go. 

No  other  country  bears  such  testimony  as  Egypt 
to  the  great  historical  value  of  architecture.  Other 
nations  of  antiquity  have,  possibly,  been  equally 
powerful,  or  as  highly  civilised  ;  but  they  have 
failed  to  leave  behind  them  any  enduring  monu- 
ments to  record  their  greatness — no  literature  in 
stone  or  marble — and  they  have  disappeared  from 
the  pages  of  history.  Not  so  the  Egyptians, 
There  is  a  "  voicefulness  "  in  these  old  tombs  and 
temples  along  the  banks  of  the  Nile  which  gives 
reality  and  life  to  the  history  of  the  men  who 
built  them.  Hence  the  unique  interest  which 
attaches  to  the  architecture  of  Egypt.  These 
temples,  these  walls,  that  have  so  long  been 
washed  by  the  passing  waves  of  humanity,"  pre- 
sent a  reliable  record  of  the  social  and  religious 
life  of  their  builders,  whose  life-story  would  other- 
wise have  been  totally  lost  in  obscurity.  Egypt 
claims  the  attention  of  students  of  architecture, 
too,  by  reason  of  having  produced  monuments 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


II 


which,  for  massiveness  and  grandeur,  have  never 
been  excelled  in  the  world's  history  Yet  Egyp- 
tian architecture  must  ever  remain,  to  some  ex- 
tent, a  subject  by  itself ;  it  occupies  no  very  im- 
portant place  in  the  story  of  the  architecture 
which  chiefly  concerns  us — that  of  Europe.  It  is 
a  strange  fact  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  few 
features  which  were  borrowed  by  the  Greeks,  all 
the  characteristic  forms  of  Egyptian  architecture 
have  become  obsolete ,  the  Greeks,  moreover,  in 
adopting  any  feature,  so  modified  and  improved 
it  that  it  became,  in  reality,  their  own.  Greece, 
not  Egypt,  was  the  true  parent  of  European  ar- 
chitecture;  yet  the  colossal  monuments  of  the 
Nile  valley  had  weathered  thirty  centuries  be- 
fore Grecian  architecture  had  left  its  cradle. 

In  almost  all  countries  we  find  that  the  chief 
structures  are  the  outcome  of  the  nation's  religious 
beliefs.  Such  was  the  case  in  Egypt  from  the 
earliest  times.  Nothing  reveals  the  character  of 
the  nation  so  clearly  as  its  religion  ;  nothing  has 
a  more  permeating  influence  upon  its  architecture. 
The  Egyptians  were  essentially  a  religious  people, 
with  a  very  lengthy  catalogue  of  deities;  they 
themselves  spoke  of  their  "thousand  gods,"  and, 
in  addition  to  their  many  principal  deities,  they 
paid  religious  regard  to  animals.  Cats,  dogs,  and 
many  of  the  common  animals  were  held  sacred; 
at  death  their  bodies  were  embalmed,  and  interred 
in  specially  constructed  tombs.  When  a  sacred 
bull,  or  Apis,  died,  the  funeral  would  be  on  an 
elaborate  scale,  costing  the  equivalent  of  ^20,000 
of  our  money.  The  remains  were  embalmed, 
placed  in  a  solid  granite  sarcophagus  weighing 
fifty  tons  or  more,  and  deposited  in  one  of  the 
long  galleries  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock 


12  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


It  will  be  readily  seen,  then,  that  this  phase  of 
the  nation's  religion  was  productive  of  a  vast 
amount  of  architectural  work.  But  of  far  greater 
importance  in  its  influence  upon  the  architecture 
of  the  country  was  the  belief  held  by  the  Egyp- 
tians regarding  man's  life  after  death.  While  the 
bad  soul  was  sentenced  to  a  round  of  migrations 
into  the  bodies  of  unclean  animals,  the  good  soul^ 
as  its  reward,  was  made  the  companion  of  Osiris 
for  a  period  of  three  thousand  years.  At  the  end 
of  this  time  it  returned  to  earth,  re-entered  its 
former  body,  and  again  lived  the  life  of  a  human 
being.  Thus  it  was  most  desirable  that,  when  the 
long  allotted  period  had  expired,  the  soul  should 
be  able,  on  returning  to  earth,  to  find  the  body 
which  it  was  to  re-enter. 

The  natural  outcome  of  this  belief  was  the 
process  of  embalming,  and  the  erection  of  tombs 
which  might  be  relied  upon  to  last  out  the  span 
of  three  thousand  years,  and  to  safeguard  the 
body  during  that  period. 

The  most  colossal,  and  almost  the  oldest,  of 
these  sepulchral  monuments  are  the  mysterious 
structures  with  which,  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Europe,  the  name  of  Egypt  has  always  been  asso- 
ciated— the  Pyramids.  The  largest,  and  the  best 
known,  of  these  are  the  three  at  Ghizeh,  near 
Cairo,  built  respectively  by  Cheops  (or  Suphis), 
Chephren,  and  Mycerinus.  The  pyramid  of 
Cheops,  generally  known  as  the  Great  Pyramid," 
is  the  most  important  of  the  three.  Its  builder 
was  a  tyrant  of  the  fourth  dynasty  (cir.  3700  B.C.), 
who  closed  all  the  temples  and  forced  his  subjects 
to  labour  for  years  at  this  gigantic  structure, 
which  was  to  serve  in  due  course  as  his  tomb. 
The  pyramid  has  a  square  base,  755  feet  in  length. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


13 


covering  an  area  of  about  thirteen  acres,  or  twice 
the  extent  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome.  The  four  sides 
were  of  the  form  of  equilateral  triangles,  sloping 
towards  and  meeting  at  the  top,  at  a  height  of 
481  feet  above  the  level  of  the  platform.  Lime- 


FiG.  I.— Section  through  the  Great  Pyramid. 


Stone  was  chiefly  used  in  its  construction,  upon. a 
base  of  solid  rock,  but  over  this  was  an  exterior 
facing  of  polished  granite,  every  vestige  of  which 
has  now  disappeared.  The  internal  passages  are 
still  lined  with  highly  polished  granite  slabs,  fitted 
together  with  astonishing  accuracy. 

The  entrance  w^as  at  the  point  marked  a, 
about  47  feet  above  the  original  base,  and  was  care- 
fully concealed,  extraordinary  precautions  having 
been  taken  to  prevent  the  tomb  from  being  en- 
tered. From  the  entrance  a  passage  slopes  down 
to  a  chamber,  b,  cut  in  the  solid  rock  120  feet 
below  the  natural  surface  of  the  ground.  The 
object  of  this  chamber  is  not  apparent ;  possibly 
it  was  intended  as  a  blind.    A  corridor,  turning 


14  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


off  at  c,  leads  up  to  the  royal  burial-chamber,  d, 
situated  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  structure. 
Below  this  is  a  third  room,  called  the  Queen's 
Chamber,"  though  there  is  no  authority  for  the 
name.  The  chambers  and  corridors  are  interest- 
ing constructionally,  for  they  show  the  methods 
adopted  by  these  early  engineers  for  bridging 
over  openings  in  order  to  resist  a  superincumbent 
weight.  The  central  corridor  is  28  feet  high,  with 
a  ceiling  formed  by  courses  of  masonry  which 
overhang  one  another  successively  until  they 
meet  at  the  top.  In  the  case  of  the  King's 
Chamber,"  in  which  the  royal  sarcophagus  was 
deposited,  marvellous  ingenuity  was  displayed  in 
making  the  roof  strong  enough  to  prevent  the 
weight  overhead  from  crushing 
-r-rr-.T^  i  AL  through.  Five  enormous  stone 
slabs  were  fixed,  as  we  see  in 
the  illustration,  with  a  small 
chamber  between  each  of  them  ; 
these  were  surmounted  by  a 
rudimentary  arch,  formed  by 
two  massive  lintels  tilted  in 
such  a  way  as  to  meet  over 
the  centre  of  the  opening. 
B^^H^^^  How  this  colossal  enter- 
FiG.  2.  -  Corbelling  P^^^^  ^as  carried  out  in  all  its 
over  King's  Chamber,  details  Continues  to  be  an  ex- 
cellent subject  for  speculation. 
The  limestone  quarries,  which  provided  the  bulk 
of  the  stone,  were  situated  at  El  Massarah,  a  dis- 
tance of  fifty  miles  from  Ghizeh  ;  the  red  granite 
could  not  have  been  quarried  nearer  than  Assouan, 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  500  miles  away.  The 
blocks  of  stone  could  be  readily  floated  down  the 
stream  upon  rafts ;   thence  it  is  probable  that 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  15 


they  were  slowly  moved  into  position  by  means 
of  rollers,  being  gradually  raised  to  the  required 
height  along  an  inclined  plane  or  embankment 
constructed  for  this  purpose.  It  is  stated  that 
100,000  men  were  employed  upon  the  Great  Pyra- 
mid for  a  period  of  twenty  years;  so  that  the 
raising  of  such  an  embankment,  though  a  gigan- 
tic undertaking,  would  represent  but  a  small  por- 
tion of  this  vast  amount  of  labour.  Many  of  the 
blocks  of  stone  measure  30  feet  in  length  and 
weigh  as  much  as  fifty  tons,  yet  they  were  worked 
with  the  greatest  exactitude  ;  the  polished  granite 
slabs  which  line  the  corridors  are  fitted  together 
with  such  accuracy  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  detect  the  joints.  Similar  accuracy  was  ob- 
served in  the  setting  out  of  the  structure.  Pro- 
fessor Petrie's  measurements  show  that  the  lengths 
of  the  sides  varied  from  755  feet  77  inches  to  755 
feet  9-4  inches,  the  extreme  difference  being  17 
inches  only ! 

Such  a  vast,  unremunerative  work  could  only 
have  been  undertaken  by  a  selfish  tyrant  who  was 
utterly  regardless  of  the  sufferings  of  his  people. 
At  this  period  there  were  no  prisoners  of  war,  so 
that  the  burden  of  the  task  fell  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  king's  free  "  subjects.  The  royal  oppres- 
sor failed,  however,  in  the  one  object  to  which 
his  efforts  were  directed — the  safe  preservation  of 
his  embalmed  remains.  The  secret  of  the  prison- 
house  was  discovered,  the  tomb  rifled,  and  the 
royal  dust  scattered  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven. 
In  the  words  of  Byron's  doggerel : — 

Let  not  a  monument  give  you  or  me  hopes, 
Since  not  a  pinch  of  dust  remains  of  Che-ops. 

The  custom  of  embalming  led  to  the  erection 
of  a  vast  number  of  smaller  tombs,  many  of  which 


1 6  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


are  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  pyramids, 
for  this  locahty  was  originally  the  necropolis  of 
the  ancient  city  of  Memphis.  These  tombs  were 
usually  rectangular,  with  sloping  sides,  like  a 
pyramid  with  the  top  cut  off.  Internally  the  walls 
were  decorated  with  paintings  illustrating  the 
every-day  life  which  the  occupant  had  led,  the 
evident  intention  being  to  make  him  feel  as  much 
at  home  "  as  possible  in  his  tomb.  These  paint- 
ings have  been  invaluable  in  enabling  us  to  realise 
the  exact  conditions  of  life  which  prevailed  at 
the  period.  The  material  employed  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  tombs  was  limestone,  but  the  con- 
structive methods  were  evidently  borrowed  from 

wooden  originals. 
As  will  be  seen 
later,  this  imita- 
tion, in  stone,  of 
wooden  methods 
of  construction 
had  a  remarkable 
influence  upon  ^a- 
ter  forms  of  archi- 
tecture. 

It  will  be  seen 
that  the  interest 
attaching  to  these 
earliest  structures  of  Egypt  is  mainly  historical, 
for  they  can  lay  claim  to  little  architectural  mer- 
it, in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  The  object 
which  the  builders  had  in  view  was  to  make  their 
monuments,  not  beautiful,  but  everlasting;  and 
to  this  end  all  the  refinements  were  sacrificed. 
Architecture  was  treated  by  them  as  one  of  the 
exact  sciences  rather  than  as  a  fine  art.  In  the 
tombs  of  a  later  period,  however,  belonging  to 


Fig.  3. — Tomb  at  Beni-Hasan. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


17 


the  twelfth  dynasty  (cir.  2200  B.C.)  a  more  fully 
developed  architectural  style  is  seen.  At  Beni- 
Hasan,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Nile,  in  Middle 
Egypt,  are  several  tombs  of  this  period,  cut  in 
the  vertical  face  of  the  rock,  in  which  we  find 
the  first  examples  of  an  important  architectural 
feature  which  subsequently  influenced  the  archi- 
tecture of  Greece,  and,  through  it,  of  Europe. 

The  general  view  of  one  of  these  tombs  shows 
a  portico  with  two  columns.  The  whole  has  been 
carved  out  of  the  solid  stone,  and  two  piers  have 
been  left  in  order  to  give  support,  or  the  appear- 
ance of  support,  to  the  overhanging  rock.  It 
will  be  noticed  that  the  portion  above  the  columns 
has  been  squared  to  the  form  of  a  lintel.  Over 
this  appears  a  row  of  dentils,  or  tooth-like  pro- 
jections, which  are  eminently  suggestive  of  the 
ends  of  rafters,  such  as  would  be  used  in  timber 
construction.  The  columns  are  of  a  form  seldom 
seen  in  Egypt :  they  taper  towards  the  top,  and 
are  surmounted  by  a  square  slab,  or  '^abacus," 
which  has  the  appearance  of  transmitting  the 
weight  from  the  lintel.  Some  of  them  are  polyg- 
onal, with  sixteen  or  thirty-two  sides,  each  side 
being  slightly  concave,  in  the  manner  of  the 
"  flutes  "  of  the  Greek  columns,  which  we  shall 
be  considering  in  the  next  chapter. 

If  these  shafts  be  compared  with  the  columns 
of  the  Greek  Doric  order  (p.  40),  it  will  be  seen 
that  there  are  some  notable  points  of  resemblance 
— the  square  abacus,  the  fluted  surface,  and  the 
tapering  outline.  A  similar  form  of  column  was 
used  at  a  later  date  at  Karnak,  but  it  did  not 
find  favour  among  the  Egyptians,  and  was  sub- 
sequently discarded  by  them.  Yet  this  special 
form  was  destined  to  take  an  important  place  in 
2 


1 8  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


the  architecture  of  Europe,  for  the  columns  of 
Beni-Hasan  appear  to  be  the  prototypes  of  the 
columns  of  the  Greek  Doric  order.  It  is  strange 
that  the  discriminating  Greeks  should  have  se- 
lected for  further  development  the  very  feature 
which  the  great  Egyptian  builders  had  rejected. 
Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  form  reappeared, 
in  a  less  crude  state,  in  the  earliest  Doric  temples 
of  the  Greeks  about  the  seventh  century  B.C.,  and 
that,  in  the  hands  of  the  Greek  masters,  it  was 
afterwards  endowed  with  such  beauty  and  refine- 
ment that  it  became  the  most  perfect  architec- 
tural feature  in  existence. 

The  ceiling  of  the  Beni-Hasan  tombs,  although 
cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  is  divided  by  lintels  into 

three  spaces,  curved 
in  the  form  of  seg- 
ments of  a  circle,  in 
evident  imitation  of 
an  arched,  or  vaulted, 
ceiling.  Arched  con- 
struction finds  no 
place  in  the  great 
buildings  of  the  Egyp- 

FiG.  4.— Section  through  tomb  at     ^^^^^ ^Ut  that  these 

Beni-Hasan.  old  builders  were  fa- 

miliar with  the  true 
principles  of  the  arch  has  been  proved  by  the 
discovery  of  magnificent  brick  vaulting  of  the 
sixth  dynasty  {a'r.  3400  B.C.),  and  the  still  earlier 
barrel-vaulted  passage  in  a  king's  tomb  of  the 
third  dynasty  {a'r.  4200  B.C.),  discovered  this  year 
(1901)  by  Professor  Flinders  Petrie. 

Between  the  date  of  the  Beni-Hasan  tombs 
and  the  great  Theban  period  of  the  eighteenth 
and  nineteenth  dynasties — an  interval  of  five  cen- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  19 


turies — little  progress  appears  to  have  been  made 
in  architecture.  During  part  of  this  period  Egypt 
— or,  more  correctly,  Lower  Egypt — was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Shepherd  "  invaders,  of  whom  we 
know  little.  Throughout  their  long  rule  they 
were  hated  by  the  Egyptians,  and  they  left  few 
permanent  memorials  behind  them  ;  but  with  the 
expulsion  of  the  "  Shepherd  "  kings  began  an  era 
of  great  architectural  activity  lasting  for  four 
hundred  years,  down  to  the  period  assigned  to 
the  exodus  of  the  Jews  [Le.  from  1700  to  1300 
B.C.).  This  was  the  great  temple-building  age, 
the  "  Theban  period,"  which  witnessed  the  culmi- 
nation of  Egyptian  power  and  artistic  greatness, 
and  produced  the  greater  number  of  the  noblest 
buildings  in  the  country.  Constructively,  how- 
ever, there  was  a  falling-off  from'*the  precision 
and  careful  work  of  the  earlier  periods.  The 
masonry  was  hastily  and  clumsily  wrought,  angles 
were  inaccurately  set  out,  and  columns  irregularly 
spaced ;  in  many  respects  the  work  bears  marks 
of  carelessness  and  haste  which  detract  consider- 
ably from  their  merit.  In  spite  of  technical  de- 
fects, however,  the  buildings  of  this  period  were 
noble  works  which  still  remain  the  chief  glory  of 
Egyptian  architecture. 

The  cause  of  this  architectural  revival  is  not 
far  to  seek.  Before  the  period  of  the  Shepherd  " 
kings,  and  during  their  rule,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Nile  valley  had  not  been  a  fighting  nation. 
But  when  Aahmes  ascended  the  throne  of  Upper 
Egypt  (^cir.  1700  B.C.),  he  set  himself  the  task  of 
ridding  the  country  of  the  invaders,  and,  after 
pursuing. them  into  Palestine,  completely  routed 
them.  As  a  result  of  this  victory,  many  thousands 
of  slaves  were  brought  back  by  the  king  on  his 


20  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


return  to  Egypt.  These  advantages,  and  various 
successes  over  the  Syrians,  whetted  the  appetites 
of  the  Egyptians  for  further  conquests,  and  they 
henceforth  became  a  nation  of  conquerors.  Un- 
der Thothmes  III.  {cir.  1600  B.C.)  their  sphere 
of  influence"  advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds. 
Each  year  witnessed  new  expeditions,  which 
brought  into  the  country  not  only  enormous  quan- 
tities of  treasure,  but  vast  numbers  of  prisoners 
of  war — for  the  object  of  the  king  was  to  capture 
rather  than  to  kill.  This  wholesale  importation 
of  captives  had  an  immediate  effect  upon  the 
architecture  of  the  country.  By  their  forced 
labour  Thothmes  was  enabled  to  erect  temples 
and  other  vast  structures  which  placed  him  in  the 
first  rank  of  Egyptian  builders. 

The  great  city  of  this  period  was  Thebes — the 
hundred-gated  Thebes  "  of  Homer — which  was 
practically  the  capital  of  the  country.  Memphis, 
situated  farther  north,  nearer  to  the  delta  of  the 
Nile,  vied  with  Thebes  in  the  magnificence  of  its 
temples ;  but  its  remains  which  have  come  down 
to  us  are  comparatively  unimportant,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  site  has  been  used  as  a  quarry 
for  the  supply  of  materials  to  Cairo  and  adjoin- 
ing modern  towns.  Thebes,  however,  was  more 
fortunately  situated :  no  great  city  has  sprung 
up  in  its  neighbourhood,  and  its  buildings  have 
suffered  only  from  the  wastmg  hand  of  time, 
more  merciful  than  that  of  man. 

The  great  building  monarchs  of  the  Theban 
period  were  Thothmes  III.,  Amenhotep  III., 
Seti  I.,  and  Rameses  II.,  each  of  whom  endeav- 
oured to  surpass  the  efforts  of  his  predecessor 
with  some  new  temple,  nobler  than  the  last.'* 
Their  names,  it  will  be  seen,  appear  in  connec- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  21 


tion  with  the  greatest  temple  structures  of  this 
era. 

The  most  imposing  of  all  the  Theban  build- 
ings was  the  great  temple  at  Karnak,  1,200  feet 
long,  around  which  were  grouped  several  smaller 
ones;  at  Luxor,  two  miles  farther  south,  was  an- 
other vast  palace-temple.  The  groups  on  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  river  included  the  sepul- 
chral temple  of  Amenhotep  III. — second  only  to 
that  of  Karnak — and  the  Ramessium,  built  en- 
tirely by  the  great  Ram-eses. 

The  principal  work  of  Thothmes  was  the  re- 
building of  a  portion  of  the  great  temple  at  Kar- 
nak. Isolated  examples  of  this  master-builder's 
work  are  familiar  to  Europeans.  In  front  of  the 
grand  entrance  to  the  temple  at  Karnak  he  erect- 
ed two  obelisks;  one  of  these,  which  now  stands 
before  the  church  of  S.  John  Lateran  in  Rome,  is 
the  largest  and  most  splendid  monument  of  its 
kind  extant.  He  built,  or  added  to,  temples  at 
Heliopolis,  Abydos,  Denderah,  Memphis,  and  many 
other  places  both  in  Egypt  and  in  Nubia.  An 
obelisk  of  this  monarch  has  been  re-erected  at 
Constantinople;  another,  which  stood  originally 
at  Heliopolis  and  afterwards  at  Alexandria,  is 
now  to  be  seen  on  the  Thames  Embankment, 
where  we  know  it  as  Cleopatra's  Needle  "  ;  its 
companion  has  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  has  been 
erected  in  New  York. 

Amenhotep  continued  the  building  of  the  tem- 
ple at  Karnak,  and  erected  a  vast  new  temple,  of 
which,  however,  hardly  a  trace  remains,  for  it  has 
suffered  from  the  inundations  of  the  Nile;  but  an 
enduring  memorial  of  the  king,  and  of  an  archi- 
tect bearing  the  same  name,  survives  in  the  two 
mutilated  colossi,  fifty-six  feet  high,  of  which  one 


2  2  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


has  been  known,  since  the  days  of  the  Greeks,  as 
the  "vocal  Memnon." 

By  far  the  greatest  and  most  impressive  of  all 
the  buildings  of  this  period  was  the  grand  temple 
of  Ammon  at  Karnak.  Like  many  of  our  mediae- 
val cathedrals,  this  was  the  work  of  successive 
kings  and  generations;  its  walls  and  columns, 
covered  with  inscriptions,  furnish  almost  a  com- 
plete history  of  the  Theban  kings. 

The  temple  was  begun  by  Usertesen  1.,  the 
great  king  of  the  twelfth  dynasty  (cir.  2400  B.C.). 
After  an  mterval  of  several  centuries,  Thothmes 
I.  continued  the  work,  adding  a  courtyard  sur- 
rounded by  a  colonnade  of  Osirid  pillars.  Thoth- 
mes III.  constructed  a  magnificent  columnar  hall, 
143  feet  by  53  feet — dimensions  which  had  never 
before  been  approached  in  a  building  of  this  form. 
He  also  set  to  work  to  restore  the  ancient  sanc- 
tuary of  Usertesen,  reverently  preserving  all  the 
lines  of  the  old  building,  and  recording  the  details 
of  the  restoration  in  an  inscription  on  the  walls. 

But  the  great  glory  of  the  temple  was  the 
Hypostyle  Hall  of  Seti  1.  {cir.  1350  B.C.),  familiar 
to  all  travellers  in  modern  Egypt,  the  most  im- 
posing structure  of  the  kind  in  the  w^orld's  his- 
tory. The  hall  measured  340  by  170  feet,  its 
massive  roof  being  carried  by  134  columns  in 
sixteen  rows;  the  shafts  of  the  two  central  rows, 
which  supported  the  higher  portion  of  the  roof, 
were  more  than  60  feet  high  and  almost  12  feet 
in  diameter.  No  language,"  writes  Fergusson, 
"can  convey  an  idea  of  its  beauty,  and  no  artist 
has  yet  been  able  to  reproduce  its  form  so  as  to 
convey  to  those  who  have  not  seen  it  an  idea  of 
its  grandeur.  The  mass  of  its  central  piers,  illu- 
mined by  a  flood  of  light  from  the  clerestory,  and 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING,  23 


the  smaller  pillars  of  the  wings  gradually  fading 
into  obscurity,  are  so  arranged  and  lighted  as  to 
convey  an  idea  of  infinite  space  ;  at  the  same  time 
the  beauty  and  massiveness  of  the  forms,  and  the 
brilliancy  of  their  coloured  decorations,  all  com- 
bine to  stamp  this  as  the  greatest  of  man's  archi- 
tectural works,  but  such  a  one  as  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  reproduce,  except  in  such  a  climate 
and  in  that  individual  style  in  which,  and  for 
which,  it  was  created." 

This  wonderful  hall  was  almost  entirely  built 
during  the  reign  of  Seti  I.  Upon  his,  death,  it 
was  completed  by  his  son  Rameses  II.,  better 
known  to  Bible-readers  as  the  Pharaoh  of  the 
Oppression.  He  added  the  fifty-four  columns  on 
the  south  side.  In  the  methods  of  construction 
there  are  distinct  evidences  of  deterioration  as 
compared  with  much  of  the  work  of  the  more 
ancient  Egyptians.  Where,  at  an  earlier  date, 
monolithi-c  columns  of  red  granite  would  have 
been  used,  we  find  at  this  period  soft  sandstone 
built  up  in  drums.  Thus,  in  order  to  insure  the 
strength  of  the  columns,  it  was  necessary  to  make 
them  excessively  massive,  and  by  this  they  lost 
more  of  grace  than  they  gained  in  dignity. 

It  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  Egyp- 
tian monarchs  to  erect  such  stupendous  structures 
but  for  the  fact  that  they  were  able,  through  their 
victorious  wars,  to  bring  into  the  country  vast 
numbers  of  captives,  whose  lives  were  spent  in 
forced  labour  upon  these  public  works.  In  a 
series  of  interesting  tomb-drawings,  referring  to 
the  building  of  this  temple  at  Karnak,  we  find 
depicted  the  tasks  upon  which  the  prisoners  were 
continuously  occupied.  Some  are  busy  kneading 
clay ;  others  either  make  bricks  in  wooden  moulds, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


or  spread  them  in  rows  to  bake ;  others  carry  on 
the  building  operations.  By  the  side  are  expla- 
nations of  the  drawings  ;  part  of  the  inscription 
is  worth  quoting  :  ^'  We  see  the  captives  who  were 
carried  away  as  prisoners  in  very  great  numbers ; 
they  work  at  the  building  with  skilful  fingers. 
Their  overseers  show  themselves  in  sight :  these 
attend  with  strictness,  obeying  the  word  of  the 
great  skilful  lord  of  the  w^orks;  .  .  .  they  are  re- 
warded with  wine  and  all  kinds  of  good  dishes ; 
they  perform  their  service  with  a  mind  full  of  love 
for  the  king;  they  build  for  Thothmes  III.  a  holy 
of  holies.  May  it  be  rewarded  to  him  through  a 
number  of  many  endless  years !  The  overseer 
speaks  thus  to  the  labourers  at  the  building  :  '  The 
stick  is  in  my  hand  ;  be  not  idle.'  "  Such  a  pic- 
ture enables  us  to  realise  the  conditions  under 
which  these  colossal  buildings  laboriously  came 
into  existence — the  slave  population  toiling  un- 
ceasingly at  the  point  of  the  goad,  while  the  task- 
masters, by  their  exacting  severity,  earned  for 
themselves  a  share  of  the  good  things  of  this  life. 

After  the  period  of  the  Exodus  (a'r.  1300  B.C.) 
a  change  came  over  the  land  :  the  Egyptians  lost 
a  great  number  of  their  slaves,  and,  as  a  result 
or  a  coincidence,  the  era  of  temple-building 
practically  ended  with  the  reign  of  the  great 
Rameses. 

At  Karnak  the  chief  object  of  each  monarch 
was  to  surpass,  in  extent  and  magnificence, 
the  buildings  of  his  predecessors,  without  regard 
to  congruity  of  plan.  But  in  the  Ramessium 
at  Thebes,  a  temple  wholly  built  by  the  great 
Rameses,  we  see  the  plan  of  a  typical  temple  of 
the  period.  The  fagade  was  formed  by  two 
massive  pyramidal  towers  (pylons),  between  which 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  25 


was  the  entrance  doorway ;  in  many  cases  this 
fagade  was  situated  obliquely  with  regard  to  the 
temple  building. 
The  doorway  gave 
access  to  a  great 
fore-court,  flanked 
by  colonnades, 
which  in  turn  led 


t 
I 


(•♦••♦»i;;t::i; 
^  ::::::pr2; 


to  an  mner  court,     ^  ^         ~     7Z  • 

, ,         ,  ,  ^  Fig.  5. — Plan  of  Ramessium. 

smaller  than  the 

first,  but  more  richly  decorated  with  statuary. 
Both  courts  were  open  to  the  sky. 

Beyond  these  we  reach  the  Hypostyle  Hall — 
the  chief  feature  in  the  larger  temples.  In  the 
centre  of  this,  two  rows  of  lofty  columns  sup- 
ported the  higher  portion  of  the  roof,  the  remain- 
der of  the  space  being  occupied  by  ranges  of 
smaller  columns.  The  central  portion  of  the  roof 
was  higher  than  at  the  sides,  an  arrangement 
which  allowed  light  to  be  admitted  through  per- 
forated stone  panels,  fixed  in  the  wall  which  con- 
nected the  upper  portion  of  the  roof  with  the 
lower,  in  the  manner  of  the  clerestory  windows 
of  Gothic  architecture.  Beyond  this  hall  were 
several  smaller  chambers,  which  appear  to  have 
been  set  apart  for  use  by  the  king  or  the  priests. 

The  columns  were  brilliantly  coloured,  and 
their  capitals  were  varied  to  suit  the  positions  in 
which  they  were  placed,  with  due  regard  to  the 
light;  those  of  the  lofty  and  well-lighted  central 
pillars  were  bell-shaped,  but  the  columns  at  the 
side  had  bud-shaped  capitals — wide  at  the  base 
and  tapering  towards  the  top— a  form  which 
allowed  the  decoration,  lighted  from  above,  to  be 
seen  to  advantage. 

After  the  Exodus  ensued  a  long  period  of  de- 


26  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


cay  and  inactivity  lasting  for  almost  a  thousand 
years,  until  the  old  glories  of  Egypt  were,  to 
some  extent,  revived  by  the  Ptolemies.  Under 
their  rule  and,  later,  under  the  Romans,  the  land 
enjoyed  again  a  season  of  great  prosperity. 
Temples  were  erected  which  vied  in  size  and 
splendour  with  those  of  the  great  Theban  age. 
Of  these,  none  is  more  beautiful  than  the  temple 
of  Isis  at  Philse,  the  plan  of  which  is  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  disregard  of  accuracy  and  of 
regularity  which  characterised  many  buildings  of 
the  Egyptians.  As  evidence  of  the  conservatism 
of  this  old  nation  of  builders,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  structures  of  this  period  bear  no 
trace  of  Greek  or  Roman  influence,  either  in  the 
architectural  details  or  in  the  decorations  which 
covered  the  walls  ;  so  that,  until  their  true  place 
in  history  was  assigned  to  them  through  the  in- 
terpretation of  the  hieroglyphic  inscriptions,  some 
of  the  Ptolemaic  buildings  were  considered  to  be 
anterior  to  those  of  the  great  Theban  period. 
The  Greeks  and  the  Romans  were  accustomed  to 
set  out  their  works  with  great  accuracy  ;  but  at 
Philae  the  Egyptians  evidently  worked  to  their 
own  methods,  for  there  are  hardly  two  parallel 
walls,  or  a  right  angle,  in  the  building.  Impos- 
ing temples  of  this  period  are  found  also  at  Den- 
derah  and  at  Edfou — the  latter  the  most  perfectly 
preserved  temple  in  Egypt. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  temple-structures  of 
the  Egyptians  one  of  the  most  important  features 
was  the  column.  Its  constant  use  within  the 
buildings  was  probably  encouraged,  as  tending  to 
add  to  the  prevailing  air  of  mystery  which  the 
priests  made  it  their  business  to  foster.  To  some 
extent  it  was  necessitated  by  the  constructive 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  27 


system  employed,  for  the  great  stone  slabs  which 
formed  the  roof  required  strong  support  at  fre- 
quent intervals.  The  column  thus  gradually  be- 
came the  chief  medium  for  obtaining  decorative 
effect. 

Many  varieties  were  used ;  they  were  invariably 
massive,  and  rarely  exceeded  six  diameters  in 
height.  The  shaft  tapered  towards  the  top,  and 
was  usually  either  circular  or  clustered ;  sometimes 
it  was  fluted,  as  at  Beni-Hasan.  In  many  examples 
the  column  was  re- 
duced in  diameter  at 
the  base,  the  point 
where  the  greatest 
strength  was  re- 
quired; this,  and  the 
use,  above  the  capi- 
tal, of  an  abacus  of 
smaller  dimensions 
than  the  shaft  itself, 
tended  to  give  it  an 
overgrown,  bulky  ap- 
pearance, making  it  look,  as  it  were,  weak  through 
excess  of  strength.  The  chief  forms  of  capitals 
in  use  were  (a)  the  bell-shaped  capital  (central 
columns,  Karnak),  which  produced  many  graceful 
forms,  and  to  which,  as  we  shall  see  later,  the  early 
Corinthian  capitals  of  the  Greeks  bore  a  striking 
resemblance;  the  clustered  lotus  bud,  repre- 
senting a  cluster  of  unopened  buds  of  the  lotus 
flower  (with  this  capital  a  clustered  column  was 
used) ;  and  (c)  the  palm  capital.  Most  of  these 
forms  were  derived  from  plant-life.  In  Egypt, 
at  the  present  day,  bundles  of  reed  plastered  with 
mud  may  frequently  be  seen  in  use  as  columns; 
several  small  bundles,  each  tightly  bound,  are 


Fig.  6. — Egyptian  columns. 


28  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


banded  together  and  form  a  shaft  sufficiently  rigid 
to  support  heavy  weights.  This  primitive  ar- 
rangement was  copied,  probably  first  in  wood, 
and  later  in  stone,  and  is  undoubtedly  the  origin 
of  the  clustered  and  banded  lotus  column. 

For  the  interior  of  the  temples,  colour,  rather 
than  form,  was  relied  upon  for  decorative  effect. 
In  the  dim  light  of  the  columnar  halls,  mouldmgs 
and  carving  could  not  have  been  seen  to  advan- 
tage, and  brilliant  colouring  was  essential.  The 
walls  and  columns  were  covered  with  a  profusion 
of  hieroglyphic  inscriptions  and  of  paintings,  in 
which  the  designs  were  either  outlined  or  cut  in 
low  relief  before  the  colour  was  applied.  Where 
coarse  sandstone  had  been  used  in  the  erection  of 
the  building,  a  smooth  surface  for  the  colour  was 
obtained  by  the  use  of  stucco,  with  which  the  im- 
perfections of  the  stone  were  filled  up. 

Next  in  antiquity  to  the  civilisation  of  the 
Nile  valley  was  that  of  the  great  kingdom  which 
was  established  along  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates 
— Assyria. 

Unlike  the  monumental  structures  of  Egypt, 
the  Assyrian  remains  have  survived  only  in  a 
fragmentary  state,  for  little  save  the  foundations 
is  left  of  the  enormous  palaces  of  this  once 
mighty  kingdom.  Excavations  which  have  been 
carried  on  at  Nineveh  the  capital,  and  at  Khorsa- 
bad,  have  revealed  almost  complete  plans  of  the 
royal  dwellings,  showing  that  they  were  of  re- 
markable extent  and  magnificence.  Portions  of 
the  great  gateway  of  the  palace  of  Khorsabad 
may  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum.  The  im- 
mense scale  of  this  portal,  with  its  human-headed 
winged  bulls  19  feet  high,  enables  us  to  form 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  29 

some  opinion  of  the  massive  grandeur  which 
characterised  these  vast  buildings  of  the  As- 
Syrians.  Owing  to  the  extensive  use  of  sun- 
dried  bricks  in  lieu  of  harder  materials,  the 
structures  lacked  the  durability  of  the  Nile  val- 
ley temples.  So  far  as  can  be  determined  from 
the  bas-reliefs  and  the  structural  remains,  the 
architecture — apart  from  the  applied  ornamental 
forms — had  comparatively  little  artistic  merit. 

That  the  Assyrians,  like  the  Egyptians,  under- 
stood the  principles  of  the  arch  has  been  proved 
by  a  fine  arched  gateway,  discovered  by  M.  Place 
at  Khorsabad,  and  by  remains  of  arched  drains 
and  of  brick  vaulting.  On  existing  bas-reliefs  are 
found  representations  of  domed  buildings,  from 
which  it  may  be  assumed  that  this  form  of  roof 
was  not  unknown,  though  it  is  improba- 
ble that  it  was  used  to  any  extent.  (^^) 

The  prominent  feature  in  Egyptian 
temples — the  column — did  not  occupy 
an  important  place  in  the  architecture  of 
the  Assyrians ;  with  the  exception  of  the 
bas-reliefs,  the  existing  remains  reveal 
no  trace  of  its  use.    On  the  sculptures  a 
forrn  of  column,  with  small  volutes,  is  ^— > 
represented,  which  may  claim  to  be  the     Fig.  7. 
prototype  of  the  column  of  the  Greek  "^Ifumn^ 
Ionic  order.    The  interior  walls  of  the 
palaces  were  lined,  to  the  height  of  about  10  feet, 
with  alabaster  slabs,  on  which  were  represented, 
in  low  relief,  battle  and  hunting  scenes  and  myth- 
ological subjects.    Many  of  these  slabs  are  to  be 
found  in  the  chief  museums  of  Europe. 


With  the  Persians  who,  under  Cyrus  (536  B.C.), 
became  masters  of  these  older  monarchies,  an- 


30  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Other  style  of  architecture  was  developed  which 
attained  great  magnificence  under  Darius  and 
Xerxes.  Before  their  period  of  conquest  the 
Persians  had  been  simple  in  their  mode  of  life, 
with  little  architecture  of  their  own.  Under  later 
monarchs,  very  different  in  character  from  the 
great  conqueror  Cyrus,  they  acquired  luxurious 
habits,  and  soon  surpassed  even  the  Assyrians  in 
the  splendour  and  the  extent  of  their  palaces. 
Persian  splendour  and  luxury  culminated  in  the 
great  capital  at  Persepolis,  or  Takht-i-Jamshyd 
(the  Throne  of  Jamshyd),  as  it  is  still  called  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  district,  after  its  mythical 
founder  and  ruler.  In  the  treasury  of  this  great 
city  it  is  said  that  Alexander,  on  his  entry,  found 
wealth  to  the  amount  of  thirty  millions  sterling. 

Here  the  chief  buildings  rested  upon  vast 
platforms  and  terraces  carved  out  of  the  solid 
rock,  which  still  remain,  while  almost  every 
vestige  of  the  mighty  halls  and  palaces  which 
covered  them  has  disappeared.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  ruins,  hardly  a  monument  remains 
to  mark  the  desolate  site  of  the  old  luxurious 
civilisation  : — 

The  Lion  and  the  Lizard  keep 
The  Courts  where  Jamshyd  gloried  and  drank  deep : 
And  Bahram,  that  great  Hunter — the  Wild  Ass 
Stamps  o'er  his  head,  but  cannot  break  his  sleep. 

The  great  hall  of  Xerxes  at  Persepolis  was 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  im- 
posing buildings  of  ancient  times,  having  an  area 
of  350  by  300  feet,  or  almost  twice  the  area  of  the 
great  Hypostyle  Hall  at  Karnak.  Its  roof  was 
supported  by  lofty  columns,  no  less  than  64  feet 
in  height,  4  feet  6  inches  in  diameter,  fluted,  and 
slightly  tapering.    Many  of  the  capitals  were  of 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


remarkable  design,  in  the  shape  of  a  double 
bracket,  formed  by  the  forepart  of  two  bulls 
placed  back  to  back.  Frequently  between  the 
bracket  and  the  column,  as  in  the  illustration,  a 
bell-shaped  capital  was  introduced — very  similar 
to  one  of  the  Egyptian  forms — and,  above  this, 
a  weak  and  clumsy  feature  consist- 
ing of  a  bundle  of  vertical  scrolls. 
These  scrolls  are  not  unlike  the 
volutes  of  the  Greek  Ionic  capital 
(p.  49),  but  set  vertically  instead  of 
horizontally.  The  wooden  beams 
which  supported  the  roof  appear 
to  have  rested  in  the  hollow  space 
between  the  necks  of  the  bulls. 
These  curious  capitals  may  be  seen 
in  the  rock-cut  tomb  of  Darius, 
carved  out  of  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain adjoining  the  terraces,  in  which  o— v^^apitcn 
is  represented,  on  a  small  scale,  a  from  Persepoiis. 
copy  of  one  of  these  colossal  halls. 

But  although  the  vast  empire  of  Persia,  stretch- 
ing from  the  Indus  on  the  east  to  Thrace  and  Egypt 
on  the  west,  absorbed  almost  every  kingdom  with 
which  its  hosts  came  into  conflict,  its  architecture 
had  little  influence  upon  succeeding  styles,  or 
upon  that  of  Europe.  Far  different  might  have 
been  the  result  had  the  invading  hordes  over- 
flowed Europe,  and  not  been  successfully  resisted 
by  those  brave  Greeks  who — 

Breasted,  beat  Barbarians,  stemmed  Persia  rolling  on. 
Did  the  deed,  and  saved  the  world,  for  the  day  was  Mara- 
thon ! 


32  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


II. 

GREEK  ARCHITECTURE. 

The  civilisation  of  the  Dark  Continent  "  was 
many  centuries  ahead  of  that  of  Europe;  and, 
long  after  art  had  reached  its  zenith  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Nile  valley,  we  find  Europe  still 
in  the  "  prehistoric  "  stage — by  which  we  mean 
that  the  people  had  not  yet  acquired  the  art  of 
writing  their  history  in  the  form  of  permanent 
architecture.  The  earliest  traces  of  European 
civilisation  and  architecture — if  we  except  the  re- 
cent discoveries  in  Crete — date  back  no  further 
than  the  age  of  Homer  and  of  Troy;  of  Atreus, 
Agamemnon,  and  his  other  heroes  of  the  Trojan 
war  (cir.  1180  B.C.).  Of  the  men  who  lived  before 
these  times,  and  who  built  up  this  great  civilisa- 
tion, we  know  absolutely  nothing;  they  have  all, 
as  Horace  tells  us,  passed  into  oblivion  : — 

Brave  men  have  lived  in  times  of  old, 
Ere  Agamemnon  first  drew  breath ; 
But  ah  !  no  bard  their  praises  told, 
And  all  are  lost  in  nameless  death. 

They  lacked,  however,  not  only  the  sacred  bard, 
but  also  that  more  trustworthy  historian  of  an- 
tiquity— the  architect.  The  brave  men  who  lived 
before  Agamemnon  left  no  enduring  architecture 
behind  them,  and  their  history — unlike  that  of  the 
old  Egyptians — is  a  sealed  book  to  us.  A  few 
monuments  of  Agamemnon's  period  still  exist, 
and  supply  the  only  reliable  information  which 
we  possess  of  the  history  of  that  time;  but  our 
knowledge  of  them  must  ever  remain  scanty. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  33 

Homer,  indeed,  sang  bravely  of  the  deeds  of  these 
men,  but  in  the  writings  of  the  old  poets  it  is  im- 
possible to  separate  facts  from  fiction.  The  age 
of  Homer,"  as  Ruskin  tells  us,  is  surrounded 
with  darkness,  his  very  personality  with  doubt. 
Not  so  that  of  Pericles;  and  the  day  is  coming 
when  we  shall  confess  that  we  have  learnt  more 
of  Greece  out  of  the  crumbled  fragments  of  her 
sculpture  than  even  from  her  sweet  singers  or 
soldier  historians." 

Although  European  civilisation  germinated  in 
Greece,  we  have  little  authentic  Grecian  history 
before  the  date  of  the  first  Olympiad  (776  B.C.). 
The  few  remains  of  buildings  of  an  earlier  date 
than  this  are  therefore  of  great  interest,  although 
they  appear  not  to  have  had  any  direct  influence 
upon  the  architecture  of  the  later,  or  Hellenic, 
period.  These  early  structures  consist  chiefly  of 
fortifications,  tombs,  and  walls,  the  work  of  a 
people  called  Pelasgi  {i.e.  sailors)  probably  Phoe- 
nicians, who  were  the  dominant  race  in  Greece  at 
the  period  assigned  to  the  Trojan  war  (1180  B.C.), 
and  who  preceded,  and  were  totally  distinct  from, 
the  Greeks. 

The  most  important  of  these  remains  are  found 
at  Tiryns,  the  mythical  city  of  Perseus,  and  at 
Mycenae,  the  capital,  according  to  Homer,  of 
Atreus  and  Agamemnon.  Remains  of  walls  are 
found  in  many  other  parts  of  the  country — Cyclo- 
pean masonry,  as  it  is  called,  for  the  method  of 
construction  was  suggestive  of  the  work  of  giants, 
and  tradition  ascribed  its  origin  to  the  Cyclopes. 
The  chief  feature  of  the  work  is  the  employment 
of  enormous  blocks  of  stone,  irregularly  shaped, 
or  coursed,  and  fitted  together  without  mortar. 
At  Tiryns  the  acropolis  is  surrounded  by  a  wall 

3 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


of  this  character ;  a  similar  wall  at  Mycenae  con- 
tains the  great  Gate  of  Lions,  probably  the  most 
ancient  example  extant  of  Greek  sculpture.  This 
gateway  consists  of  two  monolithic  piers  and  a 
massive  lintel :  the  wall  was  "  corbelled  "  over  in 
such  a  way  that  the  lintel  was  relieved  from  its 
weight,  the  triangular  space  thus  formed  being 
filled  in  with  a  sculptured  group  representing  two 
lions  supporting  a  column  which  tapers  from  the 
top  towards  the  base. 

The  earliest  existing  structure  in  Greece  pos- 
sessing architectural  merit,  and  of  regular  form, 
is  the  so-called  Treasury  of  Atre- 
us  at  Mycenae.  This  is  in  reality 
a  tomb,  consisting  of  two  subter- 
ranean chambers  in  communica- 
tion with  one  another.  The  larger 
chamber  is  shaped  like  a  beehive, 
roofed  over  with  a  kind  of  dome, 
composed  of  massive  blocks  of 
x^K^  yj—i  yji^i.^:  ^^^^^  ^^^^  wlthout  mortar.  The 
'  Mycense.  '  builders  appear  to  have  been  un- 
acquainted with  the  use  of  the 
arch,  for  although  the  roof  is  domical  in  form,  as 
seen  from  the  interior,  the  structural  method 
adopted  differs  from  the  arched,  or  true  domi- 
cal, construction  in  a  most  material  point.  The 
stones — as  in  the  Lion  Gate  and  other  openings 
in  the  old  walls  of  the  acropolis — are  not  built  in 
the  radiating  form  of  a  true  arch,  but  are  laid  in 
a  series  of  horizontal  courses,  so  that  each  course 
overhangs  the  one  below  it ;  the  space  is  thus 
gradually  narrowed  until  the  projecting  courses 
meet  at  the  top — an  arrangement  similar  to  the 
roofs  over  the  galleries  in  the  Pyramids.  Im- 
mense blocks  of  stone  are  used  in  the  structure; 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  35 


the  lintel  over  the  inner  doorway  is  a  single  block 
27  feet  long  and  16  feet  deep,  weighing  not  less 
than  120  tons.  The  chief  architectural  feature  of 
the  building  was  the  entrance  doorway,  flanked 
by  columns  entirely  covered  with  elaborate  zig- 
zag ornamentation,  showing  a  fairly  developed 
style,  with  traces  of  Egyptian  and  Asiatic  influ- 
ences. 

These  earlier  works  in  Greece  are  separated 
from  the  later  development  of  true  Greek  archi- 
tecture by  an  absolute  break  in 
form  and  construction.  Hellenic 
civilisation  was  developed,  not 
by   the    Pelasgi,    but    by  the 
Greeks,  or  Hellenes,  who  suc- 
ceeded them,  and  it  was  the  art 
which  they  evolved-the  "  classi-  th'oVhVe'S- 
cal  architecture    of  Greece,  as  it      ury  of  Atreus. 
is  called  —  which  has  been  the 
parent  of  all  the  styles  throughout  Europe  in 
succeeding  centuries. 

Suggestions  were,  no  doubt,  gathered  from 
Egypt  and  from  Asia,  but  in  the  main  the  archi- 
tecture of  Greece  appears  to  have  been  an  original 
creation.  The  period  during  which  it  flourished 
was  a  comparatively  short  one,  for  the  date  of 
the  oldest  known  building — a  temple  of  the  Doric 
order  at  Corinth — is  not  earlier  than  650  b.c. 
For  two  centuries  after  this,  art  progressed  until, 
after  the  defeat  of  the  Persians,  it  reached  its 
culmination  at  Athens  during  the  great  Periclean 
age  (460-400  B.C.).  A  period  of  reaction  then 
ensued,  followed  by  a  short-lived  but  splendid 
revival  under  Alexander  the  Great,  and,  on  his 
death  (323  B.C.),  by  a  decline  from  which  it  never 
recovered, 


36  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


The  buildings,  throughout  these  periods,  upon 
which  the  ancient  Greeks  lavished  their  genius, 
were  the  temples.  These  differed  from  the  tem- 
ples of  the  old  Egyptians  in  almost  all  points  save 
one — the  frequent  use  of  the  column  as  the  domi- 
nant feature  of  the  design.  But  the  Egyptians 
built  their  tepples  with  a  view  to  impress  the 
worshipper  by  the  mystery,  the  richness,  and  the 
grandeur  of  the  interior  :  for  this  reason,  and  for 
constructive  purposes,  the  columns  were  placed 
inside  the  building.  With  the  Greeks,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  temples  were  comparatively  small ;  they 
were  not  built  as  vast  memorials  of  the  greatness 
of  despotic  monarchs,  nor  were  they  required  for 
the  accommodation  of  crowds  of  worshippers. 
The  roofs  had  not  the  massive  solidity  of  the 
Egyptian  structures,  and  few  supports  were  neces- 
sary ;  moreover,  the  buildings  were  designed  for 
external  effect.  In  the  Greek  temples,  therefore, 
the  principal  columns  were  ranged  on  the  outside. 

As  a  rule,  the  building  occupied  a  conspicuous 
position,  that  it  might  be  visible  from  all  points 
and  be  admired  by  all.  The  Greeks'  form  of 
worship  was  not  congregational  :  it  consisted 
chiefly  in  prayers  offered  up  outside  the  sanctu- 
ary— from  any  point  within  view  of  the  temple — 
to  the  deity  whose  image  was  enshrined  in  it.  To 
provide  shelter  for  this  image  was,  in  fact,  the 
chief  purpose  of  the  temple.  Thus  the  plan  was 
invariably  simple.  In  the  smaller  buildings,  four 
walls  formed  an  oblong  chamber,  the  naos.,  in 
which  was  placed  the  statue  of  the  deity.  A  por- 
tico with  columns,  the  pronaos.,  gave  access  to 
this  chamber  ;  the  whole  stood  upon  a  platform, 
and  was  covered  by  a  simple  roof  terminating  in 
a  gable  at  each  end.    In  the  large  temples,  as  we 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  37 


shall  see  later  in  the  Parthenon,  columns  were 
ranged  all  round,  forming  a  peristyle,  and  at  the 
back  of  the  sacred  cell  a  second  chamber  was 
sometimes  added,  to  serve  probably  as  a  treasury 
in  which  to  deposit  the  votive  offerings.  Stone, 
frequently  marble,  was  the  material  used  in  the 
construction  throughout,  except  in  the  roofs, 
which  were  of  wood  covered  with  marble  tiles. 
The  perishable  roofs  have  all  disappeared,  and 
with  them  has  been  lost  all  evidence  regarding 
the  method  adopted  by  the  Greeks  for  the  light- 
ing of  the  temples ;  for  with 
one  exception— the  great 
temple  at  Agrigentum — the 
walls  of  all  known  build- 
ings of  this  kind  were  win- 
dowless.  The  question  of 
the  lighting  of  the  Greek 
temple  has  given   rise  to     Fig.  u.- Plan  of  small 

much  speculation,  the  most  Greek  temple. 

acceptable  theory  being  that  the  light  was  ad- 
mitted through  a  row  of  windows  high  up  over 
the  internal  colonnades. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  "  Doric 
order  "  of  Greek  architecture,  and  throughout  this 
story  we  shall  constantly  have  to  refer  to  the 
"classical  orders."  The  term  requires  a  few 
words  of  explanation. 

To  the  casual  observer,  Greek  temples  would 
all  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  one  another  ; 
yet  among  the  designs  there  existed  three  quite 
distinct  styles.  Each  style  was  marked  by  the  use 
of  its  peculiar  form  of  column,  and,  accompany- 
ing this,  was  a  series  of  mouldings  and  propor- 
tions, found  only  in  conjunction  with  that  column. 
Among   the   Greeks   the  ''three  orders"  were 


38  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


called  the  Doric,  the  Ionic,  and  the  Corinthian. 
The  Doric  order,  the  earliest  of  the  three,  was 
marked  by  simplicity,  strength,  severity ;  the  Ionic 
was  more  graceful  and  ornate  ;  and  the  Corinthian, 
the  last  to  make  its  appearance,  still  more  rich 
and  exuberant  in  detail.  The  Corinthian  order 
had  hardly  established  itself  before  Greece  came 
under  the  sway  of  Rome  ;  but  with  the  Romans, 
who  adopted  and  remodelled  the  architecture  of 
Greece,  it  became  the  most  popular,  as  well  as 
the  most  beautiful,  of  the  orders. 

The  earliest  example  of  the  Doric  order  in 
Greece  is  the  temple  at  Corinth  (650  B.C.),  the 
oldest  Greek  temple  of  which  we  have  any  record. 
Several  columns  of  this  building,  carrying  a  por- 
tion of  the  entablature,  still  stand,  and  show  the 
design  to  be  somewhat  crude,  yet  with  all  the 
characteristic  features  of  the  order;  the  columns 
are  monolithic,  stumpy,  and  massive.  Later  ex- 
amples show  marked  improvement  in  proportion 
and  workmanship.  In  the  Theseum,  or  so-called 
temple  of  Theseus,  at  Athens  (465  B.C.),  for 
example,  the  shafts  are  more  slender  and  the 
mouldings  more  refined.  But  it  was  not  until 
the  time  of  the  Persian  wars  that  the  noblest 
architecture  of  Greece  was  developed,  when  the 
Athenians  gave  vent  to  their  enthusiasm,  after 
the  invaders  had  been  defeated,  by  the  rebuilding 
of  the  national  monuments. 

Under  the  wise  rule  of  Pericles  (445-431  B.C.) 
a  glorious  period  of  activity  ensued,  when  archi- 
tecture in  Greece  culminated,  and  the  unrivalled 
group  of  national  buildings  sprang  up  on  the 
Acropolis  at  Athens.  Foremost  among  these  was 
the  Doric  temple  of  the  virgin  goddess  Athene, 
the  world-renowned  Parthenon  (Gr.  parthenos,  a 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  39 


virgin),  a  building  which,  for  beauty  of  design  and 
for  delicacy  of  workmanship,  must  be  regarded 
as  the  nearest  approach  to  perfection  of  all  works 
ever  erected  by  man. 

The  Parthenon  reveals  to  us  all  the  leading 
features  of  a  fully  developed  Doric  temple.  The 
plan,  as  we  see,  was  simple  and  regular,  consisting 
of  two  cells — the  sacred  chamber  and  a  small 


Fig.  12. — Plan  of  the  Parthenon. 


treasury  behind  it.  Round  these  was  ranged  a 
peristyle,  or  series  of  columns,  eight  of  which 
formed  a  portico  at  each  end ;  each  portico  con- 
tained an  inner  row  of  six  columns.  The  whole 
structure  stood  upon  a  stylobate,"  or  raised 
pavement,  three  steps  in  height. 

In  conjunction  with  this  plan,  let  us  consider 
the  features  which  constitute  a  design  of  the  Doric 
order.  The  column  of  this  order,  as  the  illustra- 
tion shows,  has  no  base,  but  is  set  directly  upon 
the  stone  floor  or  platform  :  its  diameter  is  great- 
est at  the  foot,  and  from  this  point  it  tapers  to- 
wards the  top,  not  in  a  straight  line,  but  with  a 
subtle  convex  curve,  or  swelling,  called  the  ''en- 
tasis." Around  the  shaft  are  flutes,  or  shallow 
channels,  twenty,  or  sometimes  sixteen,  in  num- 
ber, with  a  sharp  edge  between  them.  Surmount- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


ing  the  shaft  is  a  plain,  sturdy  capital,  made  up 
of  a  square  slab,  or  ''abacus,"  upon  which  the 
superstructure  rests,  with  a  circular  cushion  called 
the  ''echinus,"  spreading  out  from  the  top  of  the 
shaft  to  receive  the  weight  from 
the  abacus.  The  grooves  on  the 
face  of  the  column  are  carried 
up  until  they  are  checked  by  a 
band  of  fillets  just  below  the 
capital. 

The  upper  portion  of  the  de- 
sign, supported  by  the  columns, 
is  called  the  entablature.  This 
consists,  first  of  a  horizontal 
marble  beam  or  "  architrave," 
upon  which  the  weight  rests,  and 
by  which  it  is  distributed  to  the 
columns.  Being  the  supporting 
member  of  the  entablature,  the 
architrave  was  almost  invariably 
^1  '  J    left  plain,  lest  ornamentation  of 

Fig  13— The  Doric        surface  should  detract  from 
order.  its  appearance  of  Strength.  Above 

the  architrave  runs  the  frieze, 
which,  in  the  Doric  order,  was  divided  into  square 
panels,  or  "  metopes,"  separated  by  slightly  pro- 
jecting blocks,  called  "  triglyphs  "  (three  chan- 
nels), on  the  face  of  which  are  cut  vertical  grooves. 
As  will  be  seen  from  the  sketch,  a  triglyph  occurs 
over  each  column,  and  one  between  each  pair  of 
columns.  In  many  cases  the  metopes  were  filled 
in  with  sculpture  in  relief.  The  remaining  por- 
tion of  the  entablature,  above  the  frieze,  is  the 
"  cornice." 

We  see,  then,  that  the  leading  features  of  the 
order  are  the  column  and  its  entablature,  the  latter 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  41 


consisting  of  three  parts — the  plain  architrave,  the 
frieze,  with  its  metopes  and  triglyphs,  and  the 
cornice.  On  the  underside  of  the  cornice  will  be 
-noticed  a  series  of  marble  slabs  (mutules),  each 
having  a  number  of  small  projections  resembling 
wooden  pins,  or  nail-heads. 

At  the  ends  of  the  building  the  upper  members 
of  the  cornice  are  made  to  follow  the  lines  of  the 
sloping  roof  until  they  meet  in  the  centre  at  the 
top,  while  the  lower  portion  is  carried  along  hori- 
zontally above  the  frieze.  The  triangular  space 
thus  formed  is  called  the  pediment;  and,  as  the 
most  prominent  part  of  the  design,  contained  the 
finest  of  the  sculpture  with  which  the  temples  were 
frequently  adorned. 

The  main  details  of  the  Doric  order  appear  to 
have  been  derived  from  early  forms  of  construc- 
tion in  timber.  The  architrave  represents  the 
beam  which  would  be  found  in  a  similar  position 
in  a  w^ooden  building;  the  triglyphs  correspond 
to  the  ends  of  cross-beams,  made  up  of  three 
planks,  or  perhaps  grooved  for  decorative  effect ; 
and  there  seems  little  reason  to  doubt  that  the 
mutules  are  reminiscences  of  the  sloping  ends  of 
rafters  studded  with  nails.  The  other  feature, 
however — the  column — does  not  suggest  a  wooden 
prototype;  as  we  have  before  noticed,  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  tombs  of  Beni-Hasan,  or  the  temples 
of  the  Nile  valley,  furnished  the  rough  models 
from  which  the  Greeks  evolved  this,  the  most  dig- 
nified feature  of  their  architecture. 

We  have  mentioned  the  Parthenon  as  the 
noblest  example  of  a  temple  of  the  Doric  order. 
Careful  measurements  of  this  building  have  re- 
vealed the  existence  of  a  number  of  refinements 
in  its  construction — with  a  view  to  the  correction 


42  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


of  optical  illusions — which  help  us  to  appreciate 
the  extraordinary  thought  and  care  which  the 
Greeks  bestowed  on  their  designs.  The  best 
known  of  these  refinements  is  the  entasis,"  or 
swelling  of  the  outlines  of  the  columns.  The 
bounding  lines  of  the  shaft,  which  appear  straight, 
are  in  reality  convex — curved  outwards  from  the 


Fig.  14. — The  Parthenon  restored. 


straight  line — to  the  extent  only  of  three-quarters 
of  an  inch  in  a  height  of  more  than  31  feet.  This 
curve  is  not  noticeable  to  the  eye,  but  is  just 
sufficient  to  counteract  the  tendency  which  exists 
in  a  straight-sided  column  to  look  hollow  in  the 
middle. 

Again,  the  underside  of  the  architrave  appears 
to  be  perfectly  straight.  Now,  a  long,  horizontal 
line,  which  is  perfectly  straight,  tends  to  look  as 
though  it  sags  "  or  droops  in  the  centre.  To 
compensate  for  this,  the  horizontal  lines  of  the 
entablature  are  all  slightly  curved  upwards  towards 
the  centre,  deviating  from  a  straight  line  to  the 
extent  of  about  3  inches.  The  lines  of  the  steps 
are  curved  in  a  similar  way. 

Another  subtle  correction  is  applied  to  the 
vertical  lines,  to  counteract  the  apparent  tenden- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


cy  of  the  building  to  spread  outwards  at  the  top. 
The  columns  are  not  truly  vertical,  but  are  set 
with  an  inclination,  so  that  they  all  converge 
slightly  towards  the  top.  The  slope  could  not  be 
detected  by  the  eye;  but  it  was  considered  that, 
by  affecting  the  beholder  insensibly,  it  helped  to 
give  the  building  the  appearance  of  repose  and 
of  solidity.  So  slight  is  the  inclination  that  col- 
umns at  opposite  ends  of  the  temple  deviate  from 
the  vertical  to  the  extent  of  not  more  than  2  inches  ; 
so  that  their  axes,  if  produced,  would  meet  at  a 
point  more  than  a  mile  above  the  ground! 

The  Parthenon  is  built  of  Pentelic  marble  from 
the  neighbouring  quarries.  All  the  marble  blocks 
were  laid  without  mortar,  and  were  worked — 
probably  ground  together — so  carefully  that  the 
joints  were  only  visible  by  occasional  differences 
of  colour.  The  columns  were  built  up  of  cylindri- 
cal drums,"  which  appear  to  have  been  first  rough- 
hewn,  and  then  finished  and  fluted  after  they  had 
been  fixed  in  position. 

Of  the  sculptures  which  adorned  this  wonder- 
ful building  many  fine  examples  are  now  in  the 
British  Museum,  where  they  form  the  chief  por- 
tion of  the  collection  known  as  the  Elgin  marbles. 
When  Lord  Elgin  was  ambassador  to  Turkey  in 
1800,  Athens  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  who 
were  busily  engaged  in  dilapidating  the  buildings 
on  the  Acropolis,  in  order  to  dispose  of  fragments 
to  travellers.  Seeing  that  the  works  of  art  were 
receiving  daily  injury.  Lord  Elgin  was  induced  to 
consent  to  the  removal  of  whole  pieces  of  sculpt- 
ure, which  were  thus  saved  from  destruction,  and 
eventually  found  a  resting-place  in  our  national 
museum. 

The  bas-reliefs  in  the  metopes  of  the  frieze — 


44  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


executed  with  remarkable  vigour — represented 
the  battle  of  the  Centaurs  and  the  Lapithse  ;  many 
of  these,  as  well  as  the  colossal  groups  of  statuary 
which  filled  the  pediments,  were  doubtless  the 
work  of  Pheidias  himself.  Among  the  pediment 
sculptures  is  a  noble  statue  of  Theseus  reclining. 

1  should  say,"  said  one  of  our  most  eminent 
sculptors,  when  giving  evidence  before  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons,  that  the  back 
of  the  Theseus  was  the  finest  thing  in  the  world." 
In  connection  with  this  remark,  let  us  remember 
that  the  statue  was  executed  for  a  position  some 
50  or  60  feet  above  the  eye,  so  that  it  could  not 
be  examined  closely  by  any  spectator.  Moreover, 
the  back  of  the  statue  w^as  turned  towards  the 
wall  of  the  building  and  away  from  the  spectator : 
it  could  not,  therefore,  be  seen  by  any  one.  This 
example  serves  to  illustrate  the  surpassing  excel-' 
lence  and  the  thoroughness  which  marked  the 
work  of  the  Greeks  at  their  best  period.   Truly — 

In  the  elder  days  of  Art 

Builders  wrought  with  greatest  care 

Each  ininute  and  unseen  part, — 

for  we  find  in  the  Parthenon  that  all  the  work 
which  was  invisible  to  the  spectator  was  as  care- 
fully and  as  religiously  finished  as  that  which  was 
immediately  in  sight. 

Colour  decoration  was  an  essential  part  of  the 
Doric  temple  design.  The  Parthenon,  at  the  time 
of  Pericles,  did  not  present  a  front  of  dazzling 
white  marble,  for  the  entire  building,  on  the  ex- 
terior as  well  as  on  the  internal  walls,  was  richly 
decorated  with  colour.  The  frieze,  with  its  met- 
opes and  triglyphs,  was  brilliant  with  blue  and 
red,  the  glare  of  the  walls  and  columns  was  toned 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


down  to  a  pale  yellow  tint,  and  the  mouldings  and 
capitals  were  decorated  with  frets,  egg  and  dart, 
and  other  ornaments  in  dark  colours,  so  that  the 
whole  design  presented 
an  appearance  of  rich- 
ness and  gaiety  rather 
than  of  simple  dignity. 

Time  would  have 
dealt  gently  with  the 
Parthenon,  if  man  had 
been  more  merciful. 
Until  the  seventeenth 
century  it  suffered 
chiefly  from  neglect; 
but  in  1687  a  terrible  calamity  overtook  it,  while 
the  city  was  being  besieged  by  the  Venetians. 
Athens  at  that  time  was  in  possession  of  the 
Turks,  who  converted  the  Acropolis  into  a  citadel, 
and  stored  the  greater  portion  of  their  ammuni- 
tion in  the  Parthenon.  During  the  bombardment 
a  Venetian  shell,  falling  into  the  temple,  exploded 
the  gunpowder  and  wrecked  a  great  part  of  the 
building.  The  Venetian  commander  followed  up 
his  work  of  destruction  by  breaking  up,  in  a  care- 
less effort  to  remove  it,  a  large  portion  of  the 
statuary  from  the  west  front.  Few  attempts  were 
then  made  to  restore  the  structure,  or  to  protect  it 
from  the  damaging  effects  of  exposure  to  rain  and 
weather,  and  the  work  of  decay  went  on  speedily. 

Goodly  buildings  left  without  a  roof 
Soon  fall  to  ruin  ; 

the  unprotected  parts  soon  began  to  suffer  from 
the  w^et,  and  the  iron  cramps  and  dowels,  which 
were  largely  used  in  the  construction,  rusted  and 
caused  the  marble  to  crack  and  fall  to  pieces, 


46 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


A  century  later,  as  we  have  seen,  Lord  Elgin 
prevented  the  complete  des-.ruction  of  many  of 
the  sculptures  by  removing  them.  This  action 
has  been  keenly  criticised ;  but  if  ever  the  end 
may  be  said  to  justify  the  means,  Lord  Elgin's 
action  has  been  justified,  for,  since  the  removal 
of  the  most  precious  of  the  sculptures,  the  Acrop- 
olis has  been  twice  bombardea  (1826-1827),  by 
the  Greeks  and  by  the  Turks,  with  the  result 
that  the  Parthenon  bears  the  marks  and  scars  of 
cannon-shot  on  all  its  faces. 

Ictinus  and  Callicrates  were  the  architects  of 
this  wonderful  building,  and  to  their  genius  was 
added  that  of  the  great  sculptor  Pheidias.  The 
temple  was  in  reality  a  stately  shrine  for  the 
colossal  statue  of  Athene,  40  feet  high,  of  ivory 
and  gold,  the  work  of  this  artist.  Much  of  the 
sculpture  was  also  probably  from  his  hand. 

Remains  of  many  Doric  temples  are  to  be 
found  in  different  parts  of  Greece  and  of  her  col- 
onies. Among  these  the  most  important  are  the 
Theseum — the  best  preserved  of  all  Greek  tem- 
ples, in  a  sheltered  spot  below  the  Acropolis — the 
temples  at  Selinus  and  Agrigentum  in  Sicily,  and 
at  Paestum  in  Magna  Grsecia  (South  Italy),  the 
temple  of  Zeus  at  Olympia,  and  that  of  Apollo 
Epicurius  at  Bassae  in  Arcadia. 

The  Ionic  order — the  second  of  the  three  or- 
ders in  date  and  importance — probably  had  its 
origin  in  Asia  Minor.  Rock-cut  tombs  which  are 
found  there,  and  the  architectural  remains  at  Per- 
sepolis,  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.,  possess  features 
very  similar  to  those  which  characterise  the  Ionic 
order  in  Greece.  Some  curious  tombs  in  Lycia 
— accurate  restorations  of  which  may  be  seen  in 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


47 


the  British  Museum — show  the  earliest  works  in 
stone  of  a  people  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
the  use  of  wood,  especially  boat-building.  The 
tombs  take  the  form  of  a  boat  turned  upside 
down,  beams,  planks,  and 
even  the  keel  being  la- 
boriously reproduced  in 
the  stone.  With  such 
evidence  before  us,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  how 
reminiscences  of  timber 
construction  have  sur- 
vived in  the  designs  of 
those  early  builders  of 
Greece  who  drew  their 
inspiration  from  these 
sources. 

The  Ionic  order  con- 
sists of  a  column  and  en- 
tablature, made  up  in 
the  same  way  as  the  Dor- 
ic, but  differing  in  the 
details  and  in  the  gen- 
eral proportions.  The 
shaft  is  more  slender — 
from  eight  to  ten  diame- 
ters in  height — and  is 
surmounted  by  a  pecul- 
iar capital  which  forms 
the  most  striking  fea- 
ture of  the  style.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  the  aba- 
cus is  small,  and  that  the  fig.  i6.— ionic  order, 
cushion   upon  which  it 

rests  terminates  on  each  side  in  a  feature  like  a 
scroll,  which  is  known  as  the    Ionic  volute." 


48  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


The  column  does  not  spring  directly  from  the 
pavement,  like  the  Doric  shaft,  but  stands  upon  a 
moulded  base.  Upon  the  surface  of  the  shaft  are 
twenty-four  grooves,  or  flutes,  rather  deeper  than 
those  of  the  Doric  order,  and  separated  from  each 
other  by  a  fillet.  The  architrave  is  plain,  general- 
ly with  three  facias ;  the  frieze  has  no  triglyphs,but 
is  either  plain  or  enriched  with  an  uninterrupted 
design  carved  in  relief.  A  characteristic  feature 
in  the  cornice  is  the  dentil  "  course,  a  row  of 
narrow  blocks  or  tooth-like  projections  which — 
like  the  Doric  triglyphs — are  probably  reminis- 
cences of  primitive  forms  of  construction  in  wood. 
The  crowning  member  of  the  cornice  was  frequent- 
ly enriched  with  carving,  which  took  the  place  of 
the  colour  decoration  of  the  Doric  order. 

The  Ionic  capital  was  richer  and  more  elabo- 
rate, though  less  vigorous,  than  the  Doric;  it  pos- 
sessed, however,  an  awkward  feature  in  that  it 
was  not  four-sided  :  the  front  differed  from  the 
side,  and  at  the  angle  of  a  colonnade  the  two- 
sided  capital  was  very  noticeable.  It  was  usual, 
therefore,  to  treat  the  corner  capital  with  volutes 
on  the  two  exterior  faces,  the  scrolls  at  the  outer 
angle  meeting  one  another  at  an  angle  of  45°,  in 
the  manner  shown  in  the  illustration  (p.  47). 

More  numerous  remains  of  buildings  of  the 
Ionic  order  exist  in  Asia  Minor  than  elsewhere  ; 
but  the  finest  and  most  notable  example  of  the 
style  is  the  Erechtheum,  on  the  Acropolis  at 
Athens.  This  building  shows  much  variety  of 
detail  of  the  most  refined  order,  and — an  unusual 
feature  in  the  temple  designs  of  the  Greeks — con- 
siderable irregularity  of  plan.  This  is  due  partly 
to  the  difference  of  levels,  rendered  necessary  by 
the  uneven  site  ;  but  it  is  chiefly  accounted  for  by 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


49 


the  fact  that  in  the  one  design  were  included 
shrines  of  several  deities — Athene,  Pandrosus, 
and  Erechtheus. 

The  Erechtheum  was  begun  in  479  B.C.,  and 
was  not  completed  until  seventy  years  later,  so 
that  it  was  in  course  of 
erection  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  Periclean 
period.  A  unique  fea- 
ture of  the  design  is  the 
little  south  porch,  the 
entablature  of  which  is 
supported  by  female  fig- 
ures (caryatids)  in  the 

place  of  columns.  One  p^^^  x7._ionic  capital  from 
of     the     caryatids    and  the  Erechtheum. 

some  examples  of  the 

carved  ornament,  borrowed  from  the  Assyrian 
honey-suckle,  may  be  seen  among  the  other  treas- 
ures of  ancient  Greece  in  the  British  Museum. 

The  plan  of  this  building  underwent  altera- 
tions in  the  early  days  of  Christianity,  when  it 
was  in  use  as  a  Christian  church  ;  but  the  wars 
of  the  seventeenth  century  are  chiefly  responsible 
for  the  mutilated  condition  of  the  temple  at  the 
present  day.  When  Lord  Elgin  was  in  Athens 
at  the  beginning  of  last  century,  the  vestibule 
was  being  used  as  a  powder  magazine,  to  which 
access  could  be  obtained  only  through  an  opening 
in  the  wall  which  had  been  built  up  between  the 
columns. 

The  first  building  to  be  completed  of  all  those 
now  on  the  Acropolis  was  the  small  Ionic  temple 
of  Nike  Apteros — \Vingless  Victory  " — which 
was  erected  about  466  b.c.  This  consists  of  a 
square  cella  with  a  front  portico  of  four  columns. 

4 


50  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


The  building  appears  now  to  be  in  a  fair  state  of 
preservation  ;  at  one  time,  however,  it  had  been 
completely  pulled  down,  and  its  details  built  into 
a  Turkish  fortress  or  powder  magazine,  some  of 
the  sculptures  being  fixed  upside  down.  It  was 
rebuilt  about  sixty  years  ago  from  the  old  mate- 
rials. 

Perhaps  the  most  magnificent  of  all  the  struc- 
tures ever  erected  by  the  Greeks  was  the  Ionic 
temple  at  Ephesus,  dedicated  to  the  great  Diana 
of  the  Ephesians."  This  building  was  almost 
totally  destroyed,  possibly  by  an  earthquake,  so 
that  the  very  site  of  it  was  unknown  until  it  was 
discovered  by  an  English  architect,  Mr.  Wood, 
in  1871.  The  British  Museum  possesses  the 
sculptured  drum  of  one  of  the  column(E  celatce^'' 
referred  to  by  Pliny,  from  whom  we  know  that 
there  were  thirty-six  of  these  sculptured  columns, 
and  that  one  of  them  was  by  a  renowned  artist 
named  Scopas.  The  beauty  of  the  work  seems 
to  justify  the  high  opinion  of  the  Greeks,  who 
included  the  great  temple  of  Ephesus  among  the 
seven  wonders  of  the  world. 

Although  the  Doric  and  Ionic  orders  were 
quite  distinct  in  their  respective  proportions  and 
features,  they  were  occasionally  combined  in  the 
same  building,  as  in  the  Propylaea,  the  noble 
gateway  which  gave  access  to  the  Acropolis  at 
Athens.  In  the  temple  of  Apollo  Epicurius  at 
Bassae  in  Arcadia,  designed  by  Ictinus,  one  of  the 
architects  of  the  Parthenon,  the  exterior  columns 
were  Doric,  but  a  row  of  piers  on  each  side  of  the 
interior  was  treated  with  Ionic  capitals  and  details. 

The  third  order — the  Corinthian — was  of  little 
importance  in  pure  Greek  architecture  :  it  appears 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  51 


to  have  been  used  before  the  time  of  the  Roman 
conquest,  for  comparatively  small  monuments. 
As  used  by  the  Greeks,  the  order  resembled  the 
Ionic  in  all  its  features,  with  the  exception  of  the 
capital.  The  most  grace- 
ful example  is  the  cho- 
ragic  monument  erected 
at  Athens  (335  B.C.)  by 
Lysicrates,  in  commemo- 
ration of  his  victory  in 
the  choral  competitions  ; 
a  capital  from  this  monu- 
ment is  shown  in  the 
illustration. 

The  Corinthian  capi- 
tal was  the  great  creation 
of   the   later  period  of 

Greek  architecture.  Prob-     Fig.  18.— Corinthian  capital. 

ably  the  first  suggestions 

of  the  form  were  taken  from  the  temples  of  the 
Egyptians,  for  there  exists  a  striking  resemblance 
between  some  of  the  bell-shaped  capitals  of  Egypt 
and  the  earliest  Greek  examples  of  the  Corin- 
thian order;  but  to  the  Greek  artists  is  due  the 
introduction  of  the  angle  volutes  and  of  the 
acanthus  decoration  which  combine  to  make  the 
capital  such  an  exquisite  work  of  art. 

Although  the  Alexandrian  age  was  an  era  of 
great  magnificence,  it  was,  in  reality,  a  decadent 
period  so  far  as  art  was  concerned  ;  and  after  the 
death  of  Alexander  (323  b.c.)  architecture  never 
recovered  its  lost  ground.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  true  Greek  architecture  ceased  almost 
immediately  after  the  country  had  come  under  the 
baneful  influence  of  conquering  Rome — i.e.  about 
the  beginning  of  the  second  century  e.g.  Among 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


the  vast  undertakings  of  this  Roman  period  was 
the  temple  of  the  Olympian  Zeus  at  Athens,  a 
magnificent  building  of  the  Corinthian  order,  be- 
gun about  170  B.C.,  but  not  completed  until  300 
years  later.  When  Sulla  entered  Athens  with  his 
army,  he  carried  off  several  of  the  capitals  and 
other  portions  of  this  temple  to  Rome,  where  they 
probably  served  the  Romans  as  models  of  the 
Corinthian  order. 

Before  leaving  Greece,  mention  must  be  made 
of  some  buildings  of  which  remains  exist,  other 
than  temples.  The  largest  structures  were  the 
theatres  for  dramatic  representations,  which  were 
built  frequently  in  an  exca- 
vation of  the  sloping  hill- 
side, in  the  form  shown.  In 
the  centre  was  an  altar  to 
Dionysus,  the  space  around 
—the  orchestra — being  oc- 
cupied by  the  chorus;  the 
actors  appeared  on  a  small 
stage,  while  the  audience 
Fig.  i9.-Han^of  Greek  occupied  Stone  or  marble 
seats,  ranged  in  semicircu- 
lar tiers.  In  the  theatre  of  Dionysus  at  Athens 
accommodation  was  provided  for  about  30,000 
spectators. 

The  Greeks  built  few  important  tombs.  The 
most  celebrated  was  the  mausoleum  at  Halicar- 
nassus  in  Caria — another  of  the  seven  wonders 
of  the  world — which  received  its  name  from  Mau- 
solus,  to  whose  memory  it  was  erected  by  his 
wife  Artemisia  [cir.  350  B.C.).  The  tomb  was  a 
splendid  structure  in  the  Ionic  style,  richly  deco- 
rated with  sculpture.    Portions  of  the  colossal 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  53 


chariot  and  horses  which  surmounted  the  pyram- 
idal roof  may  be  seen  in  the  ^'  Mausoleum  room  " 
of  the  British  Museum. 

Some  of  the  memorial  stones  (steles)  used  by 
the  Greeks  were  beautifully  carved,  and  it  is 
interesting  to  notice  that  on  many  of  them  are 
found  sculptured  representations  of  the  arch. 
Although  the  Greek  builders  were  undoubtedly 
acquainted  with  the  arch,  they  appear,  so  far  as 
our  knowledge  goes,  never  to  have  made  any 
practical  use  of  it.  "An  arch  never  sleeps,"  says 
the  Hindoo  proverb;  and  the  Greeks,  perhaps 
rightly,  felt  that  its  use  would  detract  from  the 
simplicity  and  the  feeling  of  repose  to  which  they 
endeavoured  to  give  expression  in  their  designs. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  domestic  architecture 
of  Greece  is  derived  almost  entirely  from  descrip- 
tions by  contemporary  writers,  for  no  remains  of 
importance  have  survived.  The  architecture  and 
art  of  Pompeii  savoured  much  of  Greek  influence, 
and  the  Pompeian  house  described  on  p.  76  prob- 
ably resembled  in  many  particulars  the  houses  of 
the  Greeks  of  the  earlier  period. 


III. 

ETRUSCAN  AND  ROMAN  ARCHITECTURE. 

In  dealing  with  the  early  days  of  Rome  it  is 
difficult  to  distinguish  between  fiction  and  truth, 
between  legend  and  history.  There  was,  no 
doubt,  a  good  deal  of  human  nature  in  the  early 
inhabitants,  which  led  them — after  the  city  had 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


gained  for  itself  such  a  position  as  to  secure  the 
respect  of  all  neighbouring  nations — to  feel  that 
they  could  not  have  been  fashioned  from  the 
same  stuff  as  were  other  men.  We  thus  find  that 
the  early  traditions  "  mixed  human  things  with 
things  divine,"  and  gave  a  divine  origin  to  the 
eternal  city.  Whatever  be  the  true  story  of  the 
foundation  of  Rome,  it  appears  certain  that  at 
the  date  assigned  to  it  (753  b.c.)  a  people  called 
Etruscans  were  flourishing  in  a  highly  civilised 
state  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood.  The 
Etruscans  appear  to  have  been  a  race  of  Asiatic 
origin,  who  were  possessed  of  great  constructive 


Fig.  20. — Cloaca  Maxima. 


skill,  and  had  a  certain  amount  of  artistic  percep- 
tion, which  enabled  them  to  exercise  considerable 
influence  upon  the  earlier  architecture  of  Rome. 
In  fact,  during  the  first  500  years  of  its  existence, 
Rome,  as  regards  its  architecture,  was  virtually 
an  Etruscan  city. 

The  Etruscan  monuments  which  still  remain 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


55 


in  Italy  consist  chiefly  of  walls  and  tombs.  Of 
the  city  walls  we  find  examples  at  Volterra,  Peru- 
gia, Cortona,  and  elsewhere :  the  masonry  is  in 
some  cases  polygonal ;  in  others,  laid  in  horizon- 
tal courses,  and  is  of  the  character  previously 
referred  to  as  Cyclopean,'*  the  separate  blocks 
being  of  an  enormous  size.  A  new  feature — a 
true  form  of  arch — was  used  for  the  gateways  in 
three  walls. 

This  new  constructional  principle — the  arch — 
was  fully  understood  by  the  Etruscans.  One  of 
the  earliest  examples  of  its  use  is  the  Cloaca 
Maxima,  a  great  work  executed  during  the  reign 
of  the  Tarquins  (about  600  b.c.)  for  the  purpose 
of  draining  the  lower  parts  of  the  city.  It  is 
roofed  over  with  an  arch  of  large  stones  in  three 
concentric  rings;  and  so  skilfully  did  the  builders 
construct  their  work  that  in  many  places  the  arch 
remains  still  intact. 

Etruscan  tombs,  of  two  kinds,  rock-cut  and 
structural,  are  found  in  great  numbers  through- 
out Central  Italy.  These  contained,  as  a  rule, 
one  chamber  only,  in  the  form  of  an  ordinary 
room;  for  it  appears  to  have  been  the  object  of 
the  constructors  to  make  the  dead  tenant  feel  as 
comfortable  as  possible  in  the  tomb  :  the  walls 
were  covered  with  paintings,  and  the  chamber 
frequently  was  provided  with  furniture  cut  out  of 
the  solid  rock,  and  with  a  number  of  utensils  of 
use  in  every-day  life. 

The  tombs  have  proved  more  permanent  than 
the  temples,  for  all  traces  of  the  latter  have  dis- 
appeared. We  gather  our  information  about  them 
chiefly  from  the  works  of  Vitruvius,  a  prolific,  but 
not  altogether  reliable,  writer  of  the  first  century 
A.D.    In  his  description  he  tells  us  that  the  tem- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


pies  were  of  two  kinds,  circular  and  rectangular, 
the  rectangular  buildings  having  three  cells  and 
being  devoted  to  the  worship  of  three  deities.  So 
far  as  our  records  go,  the  most  important  of  these 
was  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  on  the 
Capitol,  begun  by  Tarquinius  Superbus,  and  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  80  B.C.  It  was  adorned  with 
many  ornaments  and  statues  of  terra-cotta,  or 
baked  clay,  of  which  the  Etruscans  made  great 
use.  The  terra-cotta  vases,  for  which  they  were 
celebrated,  are  well  known  in  the  present  day  ;  on 
many  of  these  Greek  myths  were  represented,  a 
proof  that  the  designers  had  come  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  art  of  the  Greeks. 

We  have  noticed  that  the  most  important  and 
novel  feature  in  the  works  of  the  Etruscans  was 
the  intelligent  and  scientific  use  of  the  arch.  The 
architecture  of  the  two  great  nations  of  whom  the 
preceding  chapters  have  treated  was  essentially 
trabeated  "  {trabs^  a  beam) — i.e.  the  openings 
were  covered,  and  the  superincumbent  weight  sup- 
ported, by  a  flat  horizontal  beam  or  lintel.  In 
Roman  architecture,  which  we  are  about  to  con- 
sider, a  new  method  of  construction  was  employed  ; 
for  the  principle  of  the  arch,  adopted  from  the 
Etruscans,  soon  revolutionised  the  art  of  building. 
The  Romans  received  this  new  feature,  and  learnt 
their  early  lessons  in  building,  from  Etruria;  but 
their  architecture  developed  little  until  conquer- 
ing Rome  came  into  contact  with  the  treasures 
and  masterpieces  of  Greece. 

The  taste  for  the  architecture  of  Greece  first 
manifested  itself  in  Rome  in  the  time  of  the 
Scipios,  about  200  b.c.  Greece  had  become  prac- 
tically a  province  of  Macedonia,  and  the  victory 
of  Paulus  over  the   Macedonians,  in  168  b.c, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  57 


brought  her  under  the  influence  of  Rome.  At  a 
later  period,  when  some  dispute  had  arisen  be- 
tween the  Achaeans  and  the  Spartans,  the  latter 
applied  to  Rome  for  help,  and  in  response  the 
Consul  Mummius  settled  the  question  by  landing 
in  Greece  and  taking  possession  of  Corinth  (146 
B.C.).  After  carrying  off  all  the  art  treasures,  and 
stipulating — in  his  ignorance  as  to  their  value — 
that  if  any  were  lost  by  the  carriers  they  should 
be  replaced  by  others  of  equal  value,  he  set  fire 
to  the  city.  From  this  time  Greece  became  the 
happy  hunting-ground  for  works  of  art ;  the  artis- 
tic treasures  were  freely  pillaged,  and  their  im- 
portation naturally  had  immense  influence  upon 
the  buildings  which  were  springing  up  in  Rome  ; 
Greek  architects  also  were  introduced  into  Italy, 
and  under  these  circumstances  there  was  soon 
evolved  that  modified  form  of  Grecian  architec- 
ture known  as  Roman." 

We  see,  then,  that  Roman  architecture  was 
not  an  independent  creation.  Broadly  speak- 
ing, it  may  be  said  to  have  resulted  from  the 
fusing  of  the  styles  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Etrus- 
cans. Upon  the  architecture  of  the  Greeks  was 
grafted  the  new  constructional  principle,  the 
arch,  which  at  once  enlarged  its  scope ;  but  the 
refined,  intellectual  work  of  the  Greeks  was  out 
of  place  in  a  city  such  as  Rome  was  destined  to 
be.  "  Rome  had  no  time  for  the  cultivation  of 
the  arts  of  peace,  and  as  little  sympathy  for  their 
gentler  influences.  Conquest,  wealth,  and  conse- 
quent power,  were  the  objects  of  her  ambition  ; 
for  these  she  sacrificed  everything,  and  by  their 
means  she  attained  a  pinnacle  of  greatness  that 
no  nation  had  reached  before  or  has  since.  Her 
arts  have  all  the  impress  of  this  greatness,  and 


5  8       STORY  OF  the:  art  of  building. 


are  characterised  by  the  same  vulgar  grandeur 
which  marks  everything  she  did."  That  such  an 
authority  as  Fergusson  can  apply  the  term  vul- 
gar grandeur "  to  the  architecture  of  Rome  is 
sufficient  evidence  that,  despite  the  fact  that  one 
was  derived  from  the  other,  there  was,  between 
the  two,  a  great  gulf  fixed. 

Before  dealing  with  the  forms  which  archi- 
tecture assumed  in  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  we 
must  say  a  few  words  about  one  special  feature — 
the  method  of  construction — which  had  an  im- 
portant bearing  upon  the  architecture  of  Rome, 
and  which  was  radically  different  from  that  em- 
ployed by  the  Greeks. 

The  Romans,  as  a  nation,  possessed  little 
artistic  feeling;  but  they  were  an  inventive,  and 
a  thoroughly  practical,  people,  and  they  had  an 
unrivalled  knowledge  of  construction  and  of  the 
use  of  materials.  In  the  earliest  periods  of  their 
history  their  buildings  were  constructed  of  solid 
masonry  ;  but,  before  the  first  century  B.C.,  the 
use  of  an  artificial  material  came  into  vogue,  by 
means  of  which  it  was  possible  to  employ  un- 
skilled labour  to  a  vast  extent,  and  in  the  erec- 
tion of  every  class  of  building  ;  it  became  possi- 
ble, with  this,  to  build,  not  only  on  a  vast  scale, 
but  at  once  cheaply  and  speedily.  This  material 
was  concrete. 

Concrete  is  an  artificial  conglomerate  made  by 
mixing  together  lime  or  cement,  sand,  water,  and 
gravel  or  small  stones.  The  lime,  in  its  moist 
state,  absorbs  carbonic  acid  from,  the  air  and 
turns  into  carbonate  of  lime,  or  limestone,  which, 
coming  into  contact  with  the  sand  and  stones, 
sets  and  forms  a  solid  mass  as  hard  as  stone.  In 
the  buildings  of  the  Romans  this  material  was 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  59 

employed  far  more  extensively  than  any  other ; 
indeed,  without  concrete,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  the  constructors 
to  have  carried  out  so  successfully  the  gigantic 
undertakings  which,  down  to  the  present  day, 
remain  the  wonder  of  the  "eternal  city." 

The  Roman  concrete  was  exceptionally  strong  ; 
one  of  its  chief  ingredients  was  a  volcanic  product 
called  pozzolana  (from  Pozzuoli,  where  it  has  al- 
ways been  largely  obtained),  which,  when  broken 
up  and  incorporated  with  the  lime,  made  a  natural 
cement  of  extraordinary  strength  and  hardness. 
From  the  first  century  b.c.  onwards,  this  con- 
glomerate was  extensively  employed  in  the  con- 
struction of  almost  every  building  of  ancient 
Rome.  Brickwork  or  masonry  was  used  merely 
as  a  facing  for  the  concrete  mass.  The  boast  of 
Augustus — recorded  by  Suetonius — that  he  found 
Rome  brick  and  left  it  marble  must  therefore  not 
be  interpreted  too  literally.  Under  his  auspices 
the  city  witnessed  a  period  of  great  splendour 
and  marble  was  extensively  used  :  many  of  the 
temples  and  other  structures  of  the  Augustan  age 
were  built  solidly  of  the  finest  marble ;  but  the 
majority  of  the  works  of  this  and  the  later  peri- 
ods were  nothing  more  than  concrete  piles,  hid- 
den behind  a  veneer  of  marble  or  brickwork. 

The  visitor  among  the  ruins  of  ancient  Rome, 
who  sees  walls,  apparently  of  fine  brickwork,  on 
all  sides,  finds  it  difficult  to  realise  that  bricks 
were  never  used  constructionally.  Yet  careful 
examination  discloses  the  fact  that  even  the 
thinnest  walls  were  merely  cased  with  bricks  and 
filled  in  with  concrete.  The  great  domed  Pan- 
theon is  a  glaring  example  of  a  concrete  mass 
posing  as  a  brick  structure.    Externally  the  wall 


6o  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


presents  a  solid  face  of  brickwork,  in  which  tiers 
and  arcades  of  brick  arches  are  arranged,  as 
though  concentrating  the  weight  upon  piers  ;  yet 
the  arches  are,  structurally,  of  no  value  whatever, 
for  the  brickwork  of  which  they  consist  forms 
merely  a  casing  of  4  or  5  inches,  upon  a  solid 
concrete  wall  20  feet  thick. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  constructive  methods 
of  the  Romans  differed  in  most  essential  points 
from  those  of  the  Greeks.  In  the  Greek's  build- 
ing every  part  did  the  work  which  it  was  sup- 
posed to  do,  and  which  it  appeared  to  do  ;  never 
was  there  any  attempt  at  deception.  Beauty  is 
truth  "  form.ed  part  of  his  artistic  creed,  and  he 
had  a  horror  of  deceit  in  any  form.  The  Roman, 
on  the  other  hand,  openly  revelled  in  it.  Of  the 
Roman  it  may  be  said  that,  as  regards  his  archi- 
tecture, he  absolutely  could  not  tell  the  truth — 

splendide  7nendax,''  he  was  gloriously  untruthful. 
But,  like  many  evil-doers,  he  prospered,  and,  by 
his  new  methods,  was  able  to  build  quickly  and 
on  a  grand  scale.    "  He  went  in,"  says  Ruskin, 

for  a  cheap  and  easy  way  of  doing  that  whose 
difficulty  was  its  chief  honour,"  and  was  enabled, 
by  means  of  his  inventive  genius,  to  greatly  en- 
large the  scope  of  the  architecture  which  had 
been  handed  down  to  him  from  the  Greeks.  In 
his  hands  the  art  was  not  confined  to  the  building 
of  temples,  but  was  applied  to  new  forms  and 
adapted,  in  an  original  and  daring  manner,  to  the 
varied  requirements  of  the  people.  Palaces,  am- 
phitheatres, baths,  triumphal  arches,  basilicas,  all 
on  a  scale  of  unparalleled  magnificence,  sprang 
up  on  every  side,  all  presenting  new  problems  in 
design  and  construction,  which  the  Roman  build- 
ers never  shirked,  but  at  once  undertook  to  solve, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


6l 


and  upon  which  they  speedily  stamped  their  indi- 
viduality. 

Out  of  the  three  orders  of  Greece  and  the 
Etruscan  models  were 
evolved   five  Roman 
orders : — 

1.  The  Tuscan,  a 
rudimentary  Doric 
form  borrowed  from 
the  Etruscans.  The 
column  was  sturdy 
and  stood  upon  a 
base;  the  entablature 
was  simple  and  with- 
out triglyphs. 

2.  The  Doric,  which 

retained  the  triglyphs.        Fig.  21. -Composite  capital. 

This  column  also  had 

a  base,  and  was  frequently  made  smooth,  without 
flutings. 

3.  The  Ionic,  very  similar  to  the  Greek  order, 
but  having  a  less  rich  capital,  with  smaller  vo- 
lutes. 

4.  The  Corinthian,  the  favourite  order  with 
the  Romans,  in  whose  hands  it  developed  into  the 
most  beautiful  feature  of  their  architecture. 

5.  The  Composite,  a  poor  attempt  at  an  im- 
provement, in  which  the  Ionic  volutes  were  com- 
bined with  the  lower  portion  of  the  Corinthian 
acanthus  capital. 

We  saw  that  the  story  of  architecture  in  Greece 
was  told  almost  entirely  by  her  temples.  This 
was  not  the  case  in  Rome :  temple  building  was 
not  the  strong  point  with  the  Romans — though 
in  the  time  of  Augustus  the  city  must  have  been 


62  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


well  supplied  with  them — and  very  few  remains 
now  exist. 

The  illustration  shows  the  plan  of  an  early 
temple  of  the  Ionic  order,  the  so-called  temple 
of  Fortuna  Virilis  (correctly,  of  Fors  Fortuna). 
There  is  some  uncertainty  regarding  the  date  of 


Fig.  22. — Plan  of  a  Roman  temple. 


this  building,  but  it  probably  belongs  to  the  early 
part  of  the  first  century  B.C.  As  Professor  Middle- 
ton  points  out,  the  date,  in  this  and  in  other  cases, 
may  be  approximately  ascertained  by  an  examina- 
tion of  the  materials  used  in  the  construction.  In 
the  early  period  the  only  stone  used  by  the  Ro- 
mans was  "  tufa,"  a  soft  volcanic  stone  which 
could  be  easily  dressed,  even  with  bronze  tools. 
A  somewhat  harder  volcanic  stone,  "  peperino," 
then  came  into  use,  and,  at  a  later  period,  "  trav- 
ertine," which  was  more  durable,  and  harder  to 
work.  Travertine  was  sparingly  used  before  the 
first  century  B.C.  In  the  temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis 
the  columns  of  the  portico  and  the  ^' engaged  " 
columns  ranged  round  the  cell  walls  are  of  trav- 
ertine; the  remainder  of  the  work  is  built  in 
tufa. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


63 


The  temple  stood  upon  a  lofty  podiu7n^  or  base, 
so  that  a  flight  of  steps  in  front  was  required  to 
give  access  to  the  higher  floor  level.  The  cell  is 
short  and  wide,  and  is  divided  by  piers  which  help 
to  carry  the  roof.  The  portico  is  inordinately 
deep,  and,  ranging  with  its  side  columns,  we  see 
a  series  of  engaged  "  columns — i.e.  half-columns 
applied  to  the  face  of  the  wall  as  purely  decorative 
features.  P'rom  the  earliest  period  of  Roman 
building  the  column  was  not  so  important  a  fea- 
ture in  their  architecture  as  it  was  with  the  Greeks  ; 
and,  as  the  arch  and  vault  came  into  use,  it  began 
to  lose  its  significance,  and  gradually  became 
little  more  than  a  decorative  accessory,  tacked  on 
to  the  structural  part  of  the  design. 

The  details  of  the  temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis 
were  thoroughly  Greek  in  their  character,  and 
were  probably  executed  by  Greek  artists;  while 
the  square  cell  and  the  deep  portico  are  elements 
in  the  design  due  to  Etruscan  influence. 

Greek  artists  were  probably  responsible  for 
the  details  of  two  circular  temples  of  this  early 
period — the  so-called  temples  of  Vesta  at  Rome 
and  at  Tivoli.  In  each  of  these  the  circular  cell 
was  surrounded  by  a  peristyle  of  twenty  Corin- 
thian columns,  with  capitals  of  great  beauty. 

As  might  be  expected,  we  find  that,  through- 
out the  earlier  period,  when  much  of  the  design- 
ing was  intrusted  to  Greek  architects,  the  build- 
ings of  Rome  were  characterised  by  simplicity 
and  purity  of  style;  but  the  increasing  splendour 
of  the  empire  was  soon  reflected  in  its  architec- 
ture, which  culminated  in  the  reign  of  Augustus 
(27  B.C. — A.D.  14),  the  golden  age  of  art  and  of 
literature.  This  period  produced  the  finest, 
though  by  no  means  the  most  colossal,  of  the 


64  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


works  of  Rome,  for  Augustus  employed  the  best 
of  Greek  sculptors,  who  helped  to  some  extent  to 
revive  the  glories  of  ancient  Greek  architecture. 
Moreover,  his  artists  and  workmen  were  kept 
busy,  for  durmg  this  emperor's  reign  were  built 
no  less  than  twelve  temples,  including  those  of 
Castor  and  Pollux,  of  Jupiter  Tonans  on  the 
Capitol,  and  of  Mars  Ultor;  in  addition  to  these 
works  he  restored  or  helped  to  complete  more 
than  eighty  others,  and  numerous  secular  build- 
ings. 

Rome  contains  comparatively  few  temple  re- 
mains, for  a  reason  to  be  mentioned  later.  The 
most  striking  are  the  three  noble  Corinthian  col- 
umns of  the  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  (about 
A.D.  6),  for  a  long  time  considered  to  be  the  re- 
mains of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Stator,  which  stand 
up  among  the  ruins  of  the  Forum.  The  quarries 
of  Mount  Pentelicus,  near  Athens,  provided  the 
marble,  and  Greek  architects  undoubtedly  fur- 
nished the  design  and  the  details,  which  are  among 
the  finest  to  be  found  in  Rome. 

Most  of  the  buildings  of  Rome  were  utilitarian, 
and  even  the  temples  appear  to  have  been  useful 
for  purposes  other  than  of  worship.  The  temple 
of  Castor  and  Pollux,  for  example,  served  as  an 
office  for  checking  weights  and  measures,  for 
many  bronze  weights  exist  with  the  inscription 
ex  ad:  Castor:  "  showing  that  they  had  been  ex- 
amined and  verified  in  the  temple. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  Romans  excelled 
in  the  art  of  construction,  and  that  the  materials 
used  by  them  were  of  the  most  enduring  kind. 
How  comes  it,  then,  that,  of  the  colossal  and 
numerous  buildings  erected  at  this  period,  so  few 
remain  to-day,  even  in  a  fragmentary  state? 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  65 


The  disappearance  of  the  old  monuments  may 
be  accounted  for  in  two  ways.  Firstly,  by  the 
wanton  destruction,  at  the  hands  of  successive 
emperors,  of  the  works  of  their  predecessors. 
Each  new  ruler,  either  as  a  bid  for  popularity  or 
in  his  own  selfish  interests,  endeavoured  to  sur- 
pass, in  magnificence,  everything  that  had  been 
done  by  those  before  him,  and  in  these  efforts  at 
self-aggrandisement  the  existing  buildings  were 
treated  with  scant  respect.  When  Nero,  for  ex- 
ample, wished  to  carry  out  an  extensive  scheme 
which  he  had  prepared  for  the  rebuilding  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  city,  he  cleared  a  site  by  means  of  the 
great  fire  of  Rome,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  works,  building,  amongst  other 
monuments,  that  vast  and  wonderful  palace,  the 
"  Golden  House  of  Nero,"  the  most  lavish  and 
costly  structure  that  Rome  had  seen.  A  few 
years  later  Vespasian,  in  his  turn,  wishing  to 
please  the  people  by  the  construction  of  exten- 
sive baths  and  his  huge  amphitheatre,  the  Colos- 
seum, concluded  that  the  site  of  Nero's  great 
palace  was  the  most  eligible  for  his  purpose. 
Without  delay,  down  came  the  greater  portion  of 
the  Golden  House,  in  order  to  provide  a  space  for 
the  new  buildings. 

Secondly,  as  Christianity  spread  in  Rome,  the 
temples — representing  the  old  Pagan  religion — 
were  not  only  neglected,  but  were,  in  many  in- 
stances, destroyed,  the  materials  being  reused  in 
the  construction  of  new  buildings.  This  state  of 
affairs  lasted  for  centuries.  The  marble  temple 
of  Castor  and  Pollux,  to  take  an  example,  was, 
during  this  period,  almost  carried  away  piecemeal. 
Michael  Angelo  used  a  portion  of  one  column  for 
the  pedestal  upon  which  was  set  the  equestrian 

5 


66 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius;  another  portion  was 
made  into  the  marble  statue  of  Jonah  in  the  church 
of  S.  Maria  del  Popolo.  The  great  Basilica  Julia, 
in  the  Forum, .  another  Augustan  building,  was 
used  as  a  marble  quarry  in  the  Middle  Ages;  the 
greater  part  of  the  structure  was  carried  away  for 
building  purposes,  and  the  remainder  was  burnt 
into  lime  on  the  spot.  In  the  course  of  some 
excavations,  three  lime-kilns  were  found  in  this 
building. 

Vandalism  has  often  gone  hand  in  hand  with 
civilisation.       The  excavators  of  the  sixteenth 


Fig.  23.— Maison  Carree,  Nimes. 


century  have  done  more  harm  to  the  antiquities," 
says  Signor  Lanciani,  than  all  the  barbarians  of 
the  Middle  Ages."  When  Charles  V.  visited  Rome 
in  1536,  the  Pope,  wishing  to  honour  him  as  the 
avenger  of  Christianity,  arranged  that  he  should 
pass  successively  beneath  the  triumphal  arches  of 
Titus,  Constantine,  and  Severus.  With  this  object, 
says  Rabelais,  who  was  an  eye-witness,  "  they  de- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  67 


molished  more  than  200  houses,  and  razed  three 
or  four  churches  level  with  the  ground." 

Small  wonder,  then,  that  for  the  finest  example 
of  a  typical  Roman  temple  we  have  to  go  out  of 
Rome,  and  indeed  out  of  Italy,  to  the  Maison 
Carree,  at  Nimes,  in  France.  This  temple  differs 
very  little,  in  the  arrangement  of  its  parts,  from 
the  temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis,  to  which  we  have 
previously  referred.  In  each  case  the  edifice  rests 
upon  a  raised  podium,  requiring  a  flight  of  steps 
in  the  front  for  access  to  the  floor.  The  portico 
is  deep  in  proportion  to  its  width,  and  the  walls 
of  the  cell  are  decorated  with  engaged  columns, 
which  range  with  the  free  columns  of  the  portico. 

After  the  Augustan  ages,  as  wealth  continued 
to  pour  into  Rome,  the  magnificence  of  the  city 
increased,  for  the  Romans'  method  was,  in  the 
words  of  Pliny,  "to  take  everywhere  what  they 
thought  worth  taking,"  and  the  buildings  of  the 
period  were  the  natural  outcome  of  the  increasing 
licence  and  prodigality  of  the  times.  A  typical 
building  was  the  Flavian  amphitheatre,  better 
known,  from  its  vast  proportions,  as  the  Colos- 
seum., begun  by  the  first  of  the  Flavian  emperors, 
Vespasian,  in  a.d.  70. 

For  the  Greeks'  form  of  amusement — dramatic 
representation — the  Romans  cared  little;  but  they 
were  passionately  fond  of  gladiatorial  shows  and 
contests.  Wherever  a  Roman  settlement  existed 
— in  Britain,  in  Gaul,  or  in  the  mother  country — 
traces  are  found  of  these  amphitheatres.  As  would 
be  expected,  Rome  claimed  the  most  gigantic  of 
them  all. 

The  Colosseum  was  built  in  the  form  of  a  vast 
ellipse,  610  feet  long,  510  feet  wide,  and  180  feet 
high.    In  the  centre^  communicating  with  the 


68  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


wild  beasts'  dens,  was  the  arena  in  which  the 
gladiatorial  contests  and  spectacles  were  held; 
around  this,  rows  of  seats,  rising  in  tiers,  gave 
accommodation  to  80,000  spectators,  who  were 
partially  protected  from  the  sun's  rays  by  a  huge 
awning.  The  structure  was  built  almost  entirely 
of  concrete,  faced  with  stone,  and  was  skilfully 
planned  to  allow  the  whole  audience  a  clear  view 
of  the  arena.  On  the  exterior  the  three  lower 
stories  formed  continuous  arcades  of  semi-circu- 
lar arched  openings,  eighty  in  number.  In  front 
of  the  piers  which  separated  the  openings  were 
engaged  columns,  used,  after  the  Roman  manner, 
as  decorative  accessories  ;  the  Tuscan  order  in 
the  lowest  story,  the  Ionic  in  the  second,  and  the 
Corinthian  in  the  third.  The  fourth  story,  con- 
sisting of  an  almost  unbroken  wall  divided  by 
Corinthian  pilasters,  was  added,  or  rebuilt,  in  the 
third  century.  It  served  to  support  the  masts, 
fixed  round  the  building  in  a  series  of  corbels, 
from  which  the  great  awning  was  stretched. 

The  vast  scale  upon  which  the  Colosseum  is 
built  renders  it  one  of  the  most  imposing  ruins 
of  the  world;  but,  apart  from  its  skilful  con- 
struction, it  had  little  architectural  merit.  The 
exterior,  with  its  endless  repetition  of  arches  and 
useless  columns,  was  monotonous.  Such  a  build- 
ing, persistently  devoted  to  the  most  brutal  con- 
tests, was  a  typical  product  of  Roman  civilisation. 
For  more  than  300  years  it  was  the  scene  of  bloody 
contests  of  gladiators  and  prisoners,  and  echoed 
with  the  multitude's 

loud-roared  applause 
As  man  was  slaughtered  by  his  fellow-man, 

until  the  year  a.d.  403,  when  the  better  feeling 
of  the  people  was  aroused  by  the  self-sacrifice  of 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  69 


a  monk  named  Telemachus.  His  story  is  the 
one  redeeming  feature  in  the  long  history  of  the 
Colosseum.  In  order  to  protest  against  the  wan- 
ton cruelty,  the  monk  rushed  on  to  the  arena, 
and  fell  a  victim  to  the  rage  of  the  spectators; 
but  the  moral  effect  was  such  that  human  slaugh- 
ter in  the  arena  was  discontinued. 

Huge  as  was  the  Colosseum,  there  was  another 
building  devoted  to  Roman  sports  " — the  Circus 
Maximus — which  far  surpassed  it.  No  vast  build- 
uig  in  Rome  has  vanished  so  completely  as  has 
this  great  circus;  from  its  mass,  no  doubt,  "pal- 
aces, half  cities,  have  been  reared,"  for  almost 
every  vestige  has  disappeared,  so  that  its  very 
name  is  hardly  recalled  by  the  visitor  to  the 
sights  of  modern  Rome.  From  comparatively 
small  beginnings  in  the  time  of  the  Tarquins,  the 
Circus  Maximus  gradually  developed  until,  after 
its  restoration  by  the  Emperor  Claudius,  it  held, 
according  to  Pliny,  no  less  than  250,000  specta- 
tors. Additional  splendour  was  added  by  Trajan, 
under  whom  the  vast  building  was  wholly  cov- 
ered, inside  and  out,  with  white  marble,  relieved 
with  brilliant  mosaics.  Oriental  marble  columns, 
and  statuary.  "  It  must  then,"  says  Professor 
Middleton,  from  its  crowd  of  works  of  art,  its 
immense  size,  and  the  splendour  of  its  materials, 
have  been,  on  the  whole,  the  most  magnificent 
building  in  the  world."  In  the  fourth  century  it 
covered  an  area  more  than  four  times  that  of 
the  Colosseum,  and  accommodated — according  to 
records — the  almost  incredible  number  of  485,000 
spectators. 

Triumphal  arches,  in  commemoration  of  vic- 
tories, were  striking  features  in  Roman  design. 
In  the  second  century  a.d.  the  city  contained  no 


yo  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


less  than  thirty-eight.  Of  the  few  that  remain,  the 
arch  of  Titus,  erected  a.d.  71-80,  to  commemo- 
rate the  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  is  best  known  for 
its  fine  proportion  and  the  excellence  of  its  details. 
The  arch  of  Septimius  Severus  (a.d.  203)  in  the 
Forum,  and  that  of  Constantine  (a.d.  330),  are 
left  as  examples  of  the  later  work.  The  latter, 
though  built  at  a  period  when  Roman  art  was 
most  degraded,  contains  some  excellent  sculp- 
tures and  details.  This  is  explained  by  the  fact 
that  the  marble  columns  and  entablatures,  the 


Fig.  24. — Arch  of  Constantine. 


sculptured  panels  (representing  Trajan's  victo- 
ries), and  the  colossal  statues  of  Dacian  captives, 
are  of  much  earlier  date,  for  they  were  taken 
from  the  arch  and  forum  of  Trajan — another 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  7 1 


illustration  of  the  ruthless  manner  in  which  the 
emperors  destroyed  the  works  of  their  predeces- 
sors. At  a  later  date  one  of  the  fine  columns  of 
black  Numidian  marble  was  carried  off  for  use  in 
the  church  of  S.  John  Lateran,  where  it  now 
stands. 

The  upper  story  (called  the  attic)^  which — as 
in  the  arch  of  Constantine — was  frequently  added 
above  the  main  cornice,  is  a  feature  of  Roman 
architecture.  The  purely  decorative  purpose  of 
the  columns  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that,  in  order  to  give  them  the  ap- 
pearance of  supporting  something,  it 
has  been  necessary  to  break  out  the 
cornice  and  entablature  over  each 
capital.  In  this  special  case,  the 
great  statues  they  support  afford  an 
excuse  for  the  presence  of  the  col- 
umns; but  in  many  examples  of  Ro- 
man work  the  uselessness  of  the  col- 
umn is  too  apparent. 

In  adapting  the  Greek  orders  to 
an  arched  system  of  construction,  the  iaTure.^"" 
Romans  fell  into  some  strange  errors. 
They  appeared  not  to  understand  that  the  arch 
took  the  place  of  the  architrave  as  the  supporting 
member;  it  seemed  to  them  that  the  column  was 
not  complete  without  its  entablature,  so  that  it 
became  the  custom  to  insert  a  square  piece  of 
entablature  between  the  column  and  the  arch  or 
vault — an  illogical  piece  of  construction,  which 
was  revived  by  the  builders  of  the  Renaissance, 
and  is  in  evidence  in  the  work  of  the  present  day. 

Under  the  Flavian  emperors,  towards  the  end 
of  the  first  century,  art  in  Rome  was  at  a  very 
low  ebb,  although  buildings  of  colossal  extent 


72 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


were  erected  by  these  rulers  to  please  the  taste 
and  catch  the  votes  of  the  populace.  Under 
Hadrian,  however  (a.d.  117-138),  there  was  a 
great  revival  of  taste,  not  in  Rome  only,  but 
in  the  provinces,  and  especially  at  Athens,  where 
the  emperor  rebuilt  part  of  the  city,  and  com- 
pleted the  great  temple  of  Jupiter  Olympius, 
begun  300  years  before. 

To  Hadrian's  time  belongs  the  great  circular 
Pantheon,  one  of  the  noblest  of  all  buildings  of 
ancient  Rome,  built  upon  the 
site  of  an  earlier  rectangular 
temple  erected  by  Agrippa ; 
the  portico  was,  indeed,,  re- 
built from  the  materials  of 
the  older  temple,  and  has 
Agrippa's  inscription  upon  its 
frieze.  The  great  dome — of 
almost  exactly  the  same  di- 
ameter as  S.  Peter's,  though 
apparently  much  vaster — is  composed  of  a  mass 
of  concrete,  and  affords  a  striking  illustration  of 
the  value  of  that  material  to  a  nation  of  builders 
like  the  Romans.  The  construction  of  a  dome  of 
such  magnitude — but  built  up  of  separate  blocks 
of  masonry,  exerting  lateral  thrusts — was  a  prob- 
lem which  was  to  exercise  the  minds  of  master- 
builders  many  hundreds  of  years  later.  In  a  con- 
crete structure,  however,  such  as  the  Pantheon, 
the  dome  and  vaults  exercise  no  lateral  thrust  ; 
the  concrete  becomes  consolidated  into  a  rigid 
mass,  which  rests  upon  the  walls  like  a  solid  lid. 
This  is  a  point  which  should  be  thoroughly 
grasped  by  the  student,  for  it  enables  him  to  un- 
derstand why  the  Romans,  in  constructing  their 
huge  vaulted  roofs,  were  able  to  dispense  with  the 


Fig.  26.— Plan  of  Pan- 
theon. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


73 


buttress — so  necessary  to  the  builders  of  later 
days — and  to  carry  their  massive  vaulting  upon 
simple  walls. 

Light  was  admitted  to  the  Pantheon  in  an  im- 
pressive manner  by  means  of  a  circular  opening, 
30  feet  in  diameter,  at  the  top  of  the  dome. 
''There  is,"  says  Fergusson,  ''a  grandeur  and  a 
simplicity  in  the  proportions  of  this  great  temple 
that  render  it  still  one  of  the  very  finest  and  most 
sublime  interiors  in  the  world.  It  possesses, 
moreover,  one  other  element  of  architectural  sub- 
limity in  having  a  single  window,  and  that  placed 
high  up  in  the  building.  I  know  of  no  other 
temples  which  possess  this  feature,  except  the 
great  rock-cut  Buddhist  basilicas  of  India.  That 
one  great  eye  opening  upon  heaven  is  by  far  the 
noblest  conception  for  lighting  a  building  to  be 
found  in  Europe." 

The  interior  of  the  dome  is  ''  coffered  " — i.e. 
divided  into  deep  panels,  which  were  originally 
gilt.  The  exterior  is  less  imposing,  though,  in  its 
best  days,  when  the  lower  portion  of  the  walls 
was  encased  in  marble,  the  pediment  and  attic 
filled  with  bronze  statuary,  and  the  roof  covered 
with  bronze  gilt  tiles,  few  buildings  surpassed  the 
Pantheon  in  magnificence. 

Space  will  permit  only  of  a  passing  reference 
to  the  thermoe,  or  colossal  baths,  which  were,  at 
one  period,  the  most  conspicuous  feature  of  Ro- 
man architecture,  and  the  most  remarkable  of  all 
buildings  in  magnitude  and  splendour.  These 
vast  structures,  which  comprised  public  and  pri- 
vate baths  of  all  kinds,  gymnasia,  libraries,  thea- 
tres, lecture-halls,  all  fitted  up  more  lavishly  than 
the  most  luxurious  of  modern  clubs,  were  built 
simply  as  bribes  by  the  emperors,  one  after  the 


74  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Other,  to  secure  the  vote  and  favour  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  earlier  baths — of  Agrippa,  Nero,  Ves- 
pasian, Trajan,  and  others — have  almost  entirely 
disappeared  ;  two  only,  of  the  later  emperors,  re- 
main m  a  sufficiently  perfect  condition  to  allow  a 
restoration  to  be  made  with  any  degree  of  cer- 
tainty. 

The  baths  of  Caracalla  (a.d.  211)  covered  a 
site  little  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  square,  and 
now^  form  the  most  extensive  mass  of  ruins  in 
Rome,  though  they  suffered  much,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  at  the  hands  of  Pope  Paul  III..,  who  car- 
ried off  vast  quantities  of  the  material  for  use  in 
the  construction  of  the  Farnese  Palace. 

The  baths  of  Diocletian,  built  a  century  later, 
were  probably  still  vaster  ;  the  grand  hall,  340 
feet  long — restored  by  Michael  Angelo,  but  still 
retaining  the  original  columns  and  vaulting — now 
forms  the  church  of  S.  Maria  degli  Angeli. 

We  have  made  no  mention  yet  of  another 
type  of  building  in  Rome,  which  was  destined  to 
exert  very  considerable  influence  upon  the  archi- 
tecture of  succeeding  ages.  Rome  was  a  great 
commercial  centre,  and  the  public  business  of  the 
city,  commercial  and  judicial,  occupied  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  far  more  than  did  their  re- 
ligious affairs.  This  business  was  transacted  in 
large,  lofty  buildings  called  basilicas^  which  served 
the  purpose  of  halls  of  justice  as  well  as  commer- 
cial exchanges.  A  special  interest  attaches  to 
them  from  the  fact  that  they  served  as  models 
for  the  first  places  of  worship  built  by  the  early 
Christians  of  Rome,  and  that  they  thus  became 
the  recognised  type  for  churches  built  for  Chris- 
tian worship.  Compared  with  other  Roman  struc- 
tures, they  were  slightly  built ;  and  as  the  materials 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  75 


of  the  old  basilican  halls  were  found  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly useful  for  the  construction  of  the  new 
churches,  extensive  use  was  made  of  these  an- 
cient buildings  for  this  purpose,  so  that  few  re- 
mains of  the  old  basilicas  of  pagan  Rome  exist. 
The  fate  of  the  great  Basilica  Julia,  in  the  Forum, 


has  already  been  referred  to  ;  the  remains  of  the 
Basilica  Ulpia,  erected  by  Trajan  (a.d.  115),  may 
still  be  seen  in  Trajan's  forum,  adjoining  his  col- 
umn. 

In  the  plan  of  this  building  we  have  a  great 
hall,  360  feet  long  by  180  feet  wide,  consisting  of 
a  wide,  lofty  central  nave,  flanked  by  double 
aisles  with  lower  roofs.  At  one  end  is  a  semi- 
circular recess,  or  apse,  called  the  tribune^  round 
which,  upon  a  raised  dais,  were  the  seats  for  the 
magistrates,  or  assessors,  the  central  seat,  at  a 
higher  level  than  the  others,  being  set  apart  for 
the  chief  magistrate  who  presided  over  the  busi- 
ness. 

The  roof  of  the  basilica  was  usually  of  wood, 
with  the  nave  portion  considerably  higher  than 
that  over  the  aisles,  so  as  to  allow  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  clerestory  wall  and  windows  above  the 


Gt]    Q   IDBQQQBBQElQQ.Isl.tsiaa.ElBlBiS  0 


Fig.  27. — Plan  of  Basilica  Ulpia. 


76  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


columns.  In  the  Ulpian  basilica  the  nave  was 
probably  open  and  only  the  side  aisles  roofed. 

It  was  not  until  the  time  of  Constantine  that 
vaulted  construction  was  applied  to  the  basilicas. 
This  emperor  completed  the  building  which  had 
been 'begun  by  Maxentius  near  the  Roman  forum, 
now  called  the  basilica  of  Constantine.  In  front 
of  this  hall  was  a  narthex,  or  porch — extending 
the  whole  width  of  the  building — which  gave  ac- 
cess to  the  main  entrance,  while  a  side  entrance 
led  from  the  Via  Sacra.  Opposite  each  doorway 
was  an  apse  for  the  accommodation  of  the  magis- 
terial bench.  The  one  existing  aisle,  spanned  by 
three  massive  concrete  vaults,  affords  the  visitor 
of  the  present  day  an  excellent  opportunity  for 
studying  the  Roman  methods  of  building  in  con- 
crete. Further  reference  will  be  made  to  the  old 
basilicas  when  we  are  dealing  with  early  Christian 
architecture  in  the  next  chapter. 

Of  the  private  houses  or  homes  of  the  Romans 
there  are  few  remains  in  Rome  itself,  with  the 
exception  of  the  so-called  house  of  Livia  on  the 
Palatine  hill,  a  well-preserved  specimen,  with  ex- 
cellent wall-paintings.  Typical  examples  of  do- 
mestic architecture  are  found  in  the  towns  of 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  which  were  destroyed 
— or,  rather,  buried — by  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius 
in  A.D.  79. 

In  the  House  of  Pansa,  at  Pompeii,  many  of 
the  rooms  (marked  s)  facing  the  street  were  used 
as  shops,  and  were  quite  separate  from  the  man- 
sion. The  front  door  opened  directly  from  the 
street  into  a  small  lobby  (l),  which  led  to  the 
atriu7n — a  courtyard,  roofed  over  round  the  sides, 
but  open  to  the  sky  in  the  centre.  Under  this 
central  opening  was  a  tank,  the  conipluvhim^  which 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


77 


collected  the  rain-water.  Three  rooms  at  the 
end  of  the  court,  the  tablinui^i  and  the  alee,  were 
used  for  storing  the  family  archives.  By  the  side 
of  these  apart- 
ments a  passage 
led  to  the  more 
private  portion 
of  the  house. 
Here,  we  find,  is 
a  larger  court, 
uncovered  in  the 
centre  as  before 
— the  peri  sty  lii0n 
— the  roof  of 
which  was  supported,  in  the  houses  of  the  wealthy, 
by  rows  of  columns  (peristyles)  of  the  finest  mar- 
ble. Leading  off  this  is  the  dining-room  {triclini- 
um),  a  most  important  room  in  the  house  of  the 
old  Roman,  who  sometimes  had  two  or  three,  so 
that  he  could  vary  the  aspect  according  to  the 
time  of  the  year  and  the  state  of  his  digestion. 
The  other  family  rooms  were  grouped  round  the 
peristyle,  while  the  bakery,  kitchen,  and  offices 
completed  the  establishment. 

The  walls  of  the  interior  were  decorated  with 
marble  slabs  or  with  fantastic  paintings,  ^'Pom- 
peian  decoration,"  as  it  is  called,  from  the  fact 
that  we  have  been  made  familiar  with  it  from  the 
well-preserved  walls  of  Pompeii,  though  it  was 
probably  in  general  use  among  the  Romans  of 
the  period.  In  this  decorative  scheme  the  wall- 
spaces  were  divided  into  darkly  coloured  panels 
by  means  of  attenuated  painted  columns;  in  the 
centre  of  the  panels  graceful  and  highly  finished 
human  figures  or  architectural  and  perspective 
views  were  introduced.    Frequently  the  plinth,  or 


Fig.  28.— Plan  of  the  House  of  Pansa. 


78  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


lower  portion  of  the  wall,  was  painted  a  very  dark 
colour,  almost  black  ;  above  this,  a  deep  red  or 
brown  was  used,  occasionally  blue  or  yellow.  The 
figure  treatment  and  the  general  system  of  deco- 
ration suggest  a  Greek  origin  :  it  is  probable — 
though  the  theory  must  be  always  speculative — 
that  the  houses  of  the  Romans,  as  preserved  to  us 
at  Pompeii,  were  in  all  general  features  very  sim- 
ilar to  those  of  the  Greeks  of  the  earlier  period. 
Mr.  Petrie's  recent  remarkable  discovery  in  Egypt, 
however,  enables  us  to  trace  back  the  Pompeian 
plan  to  a  still  more  remote  date,  for  his  excava- 
tions of  the  village  of  Kahun,  built  for  the  over- 
seers and  the  workmen  of  the  Illahun  Pyramid, 
have  disclosed  the  plans  of  a  number  of  large 
houses  arranged  upon  a  plan  strikingly  similar  to 
those  of  Pompeii. 

We  have  now  completed  the  short  story  of  the 
two  great  styles — Greek  and  Roman — comprising 
what  is  known  as  "classical  architecture."  The 
histories  of  the  two  are  inseparable,  yet  they  differ 
strangely — the  refined,  truthful,  exquisitely  pro- 
portioned work  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  vast,  mag- 
nificent, daring   undertakings  of  the  Romans. 

The  Greek,"  says  Ruskin,  rules  over  the  arts 
to  this  day,  and  will  for  ever,  because  he  sought 
not  for  beauty,  not  first  for  passion,  or  for  in- 
vention, but  for  Rightness."  For  this  quality  in 
their  architecture  the  Romans  cared  not  a  rap; 
nor  was  their  national  life,  which  their  architec- 
ture reflected,  overburdened  with  the  sense  of  it. 
While  they  were  under  the  influence  of  Greece, 
before  vice  and  the  love  of  luxury  had  fully  pos- 
sessed the  people,  Roman  art  progressed.  But 
as  wealth  poured  into  Rome,  and  her  people  lived 
dissolutely  upon  the  spoils  of  the  conquered  na- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  79 


tions,  her  architecture  became  more  and  more 
debased,  and  its  story  differed  little  from  that  of 
Rome  herself — 

First  freedom,  and  then  glory, — when  that  fails, 
Wealth,  vice,  corruption, — barbarism  at  last. 


IV. 

EARL  V  CHRISTIAN  ARCHITECTURE. 

During  the  first  three  centuries  of  theChristian 
era  the  new  religion,  though  despised  and  dis- 
credited, had  been  slowly  gaining  ground,  in  the 
face  of  enormous  difficulties.  Rome,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  given  over  to  the  worst  kind  of  licence 
and  debauchery.  The  old  pagan  religion  was 
entirely  played  out ;  the  majority  of  the  people 
thought  nothing  about  religion,  pagan  or  other- 
wise ;  while  of  those  who  took  the  trouble  to  think 
at  all,  few  had  any  faith  in  the  old  creeds.  The 
monumental  undertakings  of  the  emperors,  wheth- 
er sacred  or  secular, -were  not  prompted  by  piety 
or  by  the  spirit  of  reverence ;  and  among  the 
people  the  more  thoughtful  and  intellectual  viewed 
the  prevailing  licentiousness  and  prodigality  with 
apprehension, — 

On  that  hard  pagan  world  disgust 
And  secret  loathing  fell, 

and  men's  minds  were  gradually  being  prepared 
for  the  great  upheaval. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  remembered  that 


8o  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


the  Christian  doctrines  were  not  such  as  would 
be  cordially  welcomed  by  the  vast  majority  among 
the  pleasure-loving  Romans,  and  the  new  worship 
had,  in  consequence,  to  be  carried  on  in  secret; 
hence  the  earliest  forms  of  art  which  it  developed 
were  sepulchral,  consisting  the  memorials  and 
symbols  of  the  faith  found  in  the  Catacombs. 

The  religion  had  little  direct  influence  upon 
architecture  until  it  was  officially  recognised  by 
the  Emperor  Constantine  in  the  year  328 ;  but  no 
sooner  had  it  taken  its  position  as  a  State  reli- 
gion than  the  strength  of  the  movement  became 
apparent,  and  there  sprang  up  on  all  sides  a 
demand  for  places  of  Christian  worship.  The  old 
temples  were  not  suitable  for  the  accommodation 
of  large  congregations,  and  there  was,  perhaps, 
some  hesitation  about  making  use  of  buildings 
which  had  been  specially  designed  for  pagan  wor- 
ship. In  their  dilemma  the  early  Christian  build- 
ers turned  to  the  great  halls  of  commerce,  the 
basilicas,  and  found  what  they  were  wanting. 
The  interior  arrangements  of  the  basilica  suited 
the  requirements  of  the  new  worship,  and  as 
builders  with  inventive  genius  were  scarce  in 
Rome  at  the  time,  it  thus  came  about  that  the 
first  Christian  churches  were  built  in  direct  imita- 
tion of  these  great  houses  of  assembly.  As  we 
shall  see  in  succeeding  chapters,  this  model,  once 
adopted,  was  never  departed  from.  There  was  no 
lack  of  materials,  for  the  city  was  filled  with  build- 
ings upon  which  all  kinds  of  extravagance  had 
been  lavished,  and  which  were  now  beginning  to 
fall  into  disrepute  and  neglect.  Columns  and 
rich  capitals,  marble  linings,  architraves  and  orna- 
ments were  appropriated  wholesale,  and  applied 
to  new  purposes,  and  while  pagan  Rome  suffered. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  8 1 


Christian  basilicas  spra-ng  up  in  all  directions  with 
astonishing  rapidity. 

At  the  present  day  there  is  no  Christian  build- 
ing in  Rome  dating  from  the  time  of  Constantine. 
The  church  of  S.  John  Lateran  was  built  in  his 
reign,  but  all  trace  of  its  early  work  has  disap- 
peared under  the  changes  of  later  centuries.  Per- 
haps the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  Christian  basili- 
cas of  the  time  was  that  of  S.  Paul  Outside  the 
Walls,  built  by  Theodosius  in  386.  Unfortunate- 
ly, a  great  portion  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  182 1, 
but  it  was  rebuilt  with  much  of  its  former  splen- 
dour— "the  noblest  interior  in  Europe,  and  nobly 
and  faithfully  restored,"  it  is  called  by  Ruskin, 
who  seldom  sang  the  praises  of  the  restorer.  The 
sketch  plan  of  this  basilica  shows  how  closely  the 
Christian  building  follows  the  lines  of  its  pagan 
prototype. 

In  front  of  the  church  was  an  arcaded  porch, 
or  narthex^  which  in  the  earlier  buildings  was  usu- 
ally built  in  the  form  of  a  square,  so  as  to  form 
an  open  courtyard.  This  courtyard,  or  atrium, 
occupied  a  considerable  area,  and  gradually  tend- 
ed to  disappear  as  space  in  the  city  became  more 
valuable.  Examples  may  still  be  seen  in  the 
churches  of  S.  Clemente  in  Rome  and  S.  Ambro- 
gio  in  Milan. 

The  semi-circular  apse,  in  the  basilica  of  the 
early  Christians,  occupied  the  central  portion  of 
the  wall  opposite  the  entrance,  and  accommodated 
the  bishop  and  the  chief  officers.  The  clergy  offi- 
ciated in  the  raised  space  before  the  apse,  in  front 
of  which  was  the  altar.  As  the  ritual  became 
more  elaborate,  in  order  to  increase  the  accom- 
modation, rudimentary  transepts  were  sometimes 
formed — as  in  the  basilica  of  S.  Paul — by  slightly 
6 


82 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


r 


<;{[ 


L 


widening  the  building  at  this  part.  The  choir 
and  others  who  were  assisting  at  the  service  re- 
quired a  considerable  space,  and  for  their  use  a 
portion  of  the  nave,  in  front  of  the  altar,  was 
enclosed  by  a  low  marble  screen  or  a  railing  ; 

pulpits,  or  ^'ambos," 
'T'^^mmmm^mmmt^mmmifam    were  arranged  on  each 

:  l*-^-******'*  ••4  •     side  of  this  reserve. 

 ^  *     In  the  remaining  por- 

<  •     tion  of  the  nave,  or 
l  alsles,  sat  the 

I  " ***_*'*ll^_Jlt    faithful  who  had  been 

FIG.  29.-Plan  of  S.  Paul's  Out-     baptised,  for  riO  Oth- 

side  the  Walls.  ers    were  admitted 

within  the  church. 
Probationers  and  other  worshippers  were  allowed 
only  in  the  narthex  or  in  the  atrium. 

We  see,  then,  in  these  first  efforts  of  the  early 
Christians,  the  embryo  plan,  or  arrangement  of 
parts,  which  afterwards  developed  into  the  typical 
mediaeval  cathedral  plan.  The  division  into  nave 
and  aisles — borrowed  from  the  pagan  basilica — is 
the  treatment  most  widely  adopted  in  buildings 
for  Christian  worship  at  the  present  day.  The 
influence  of  the  narthex  may  be  traced  in  many 
cathedral  plans,  as  at  Westminster  Abbey  and 
Durham,  where  the  westernmost  bay  is  wider,  and 
its  piers  different  in  character  from  those  of  the 
remainder  of  the  nave.  In  the  early  basilicas,  too, 
we  see  foreshadowed  the  transept  and  the  result- 
ing cruciform  plan  of  later  cathedrals.  To  meet 
the  demand  for  extra  accommodation,  rudiment- 
ary transepts  were  formed  by  an  extension  of  the 
space  between  the  apse  and  the  end  of  the  nave: 
this  was  kept  free  from  columns  and  from  all 
other  obstructions,  in  order  that  the  officiating 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  83 


clergy  might  not  be  hampered  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  ritual. 

The  builders  of  this  period  possessed  little 
inventive  genius,  nor  did  they  concern  themselves 
about  architectural  effect.  The  generally  accepted 
type  of  building,  borrowed  from  their  pagan  fore- 
bears, satisfied  them  and  was  never  changed  un- 
less the  exigencies  of  the  service  demanded  an 
alteration.  So  long  as  the  apse  sufficed  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  limited  number  of  higher 
officers  for  whose  use  it  was  reserved,  it  was  re- 
tained in  its  primitive  form,  though  made  glori- 
ously brilliant  by  an  incrustation  of  mosaic.  But 
as  the  office  of  the  clergy  assumed  greater  impor- 
tance, and  the  ritual  became  more  exclusive  and 
elaborate,  it  became  necessary  to  enlarge  the 
space.  The  apse  was,  therefore,  gradually  length- 
ened in  accordance  with  the  requirements  for  in- 
creased accommodation,  until  it  developed  at  last 
into  the  choir  of  the  mediaeval  church. 

We  have  seen  that  the  transepts,  in  the  early 
stage  of  their  existence,  served  only  a  utilitarian 
purpose.  At  a  later  period,  however,  more  con- 
sideration was  given  to  their  architectural  effect, 
as  regards  both  the  exterior  and  the  interior.  It 
was  noted  that  the  transeptal  projections  formed 
a  useful  break  in  the  long,  monotonous  line  of 
the  building;  moreover,  in  England  especially, 
the  great  central  tower — the  dominant  feature  of 
our  mediaeval  cathedral  design — springing  from 
the  intersection  of  the  nave  and  the  cross  walls, 
required  the  abutment  of  the  transepts  in  order 
to  support  its  great  weight.  This  led  to  the  fuller 
development  of  the  transepts  for  architectural  and 
structural  reasons.  The  cruciform  church-plan 
appears,  then,  to  have  first  arisen  from  a  combi- 


84  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


nation  of  accidental  circumstances,  though  it  was 
afterwards  invested  with  a  symbolical  meaning, 
as  representing  the  form  of  the  cross. 

The  atrium,  or  fore-court,  which  some  of  the 
early  basilican  churches  possessed,  was  probably 
suggested  by  the  similar  feature  in  the  Roman 
house.  It  helped  to  shut  off  the  sacred  building 
from  the  outer  world,  and,  as  we  have  said,  pro- 
vided accommodation  for  those  of  the  worshippers 
who  were  not  fully  qualified  to  attend  the  service 
within  the  building.  In  cathedrals  of  later  date 
the  atrium  still  survives  in  the  cloister,  though  its 
position  has  been  changed.  The  two  ambos  of 
the  basilica  are  represented  in  modern  churches 
by  the  reading-desk  and  the  pulpit,  situated  on 
either  side  of  the  choir. 

In  almost  every  feature,  then,  the  Gothic  cathe- 
dral plan  of  mediaeval  times  represents  the  natural 
development  of  the  old  basilican  church  of  the 
early  Christians.  One  change  should  be  men- 
tioned, which  has  been  made  in  the  position  of 
the  altar  and  of  the  bishop's  seat.  The  early 
Christian  basilicas  resembled  their  prototypes,  as 
the  bishop  occupied  the  seat  in  the  centre  of  the 
apse,  which  had  formerly  been  assigned  to  the 
chief  magistrate  ;  this  seat  became,  in  fact,  the 
bishop's  throne,  and  was  raised  up  above  the  level 
of  the  seats  of  the  surrounding  clergy,  the  altar, 
meanwhile,  being  placed  centrally  in  front  of  the 
apse.  In  a  few  of  the  later  churches  this  arrange- 
ment is  still  adhered  to,  as  in  S.  Peter's  at  Rome, 
where  the  Pope's  throne  is  situated  in  the  middle 
of  the  apse,  and  the  high  altar  occupies  a  position 
in  front,  under  the  centre  of  the  great  dome.  In 
western  cathedrals  generally,  however,  the  posi- 
tions have  been  changed  :  the  altar  occupies  a 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  85 


central  position  against  the  wall  of  the  apse,  and 
the  bishop  is  accommodated  elsewhere  at  the  side 
of  the  choir. 

Great  reverence  was  paid  by  the  early  Chris- 
tians to  the  remains  of  the  saint  to  whom  the 
church  was  dedicated,  whose  baptistery  and  font 
— usually  a  circular  or  polygonal  building — ad- 
joined the  basilica.  At  a  later  period  the  shrine 
was  placed  under  the  altar,  in  the  apse.  In  due 
course  the  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  various  saints 
led  to  the  erection  of  secondary  altars;  and,  the 
apse  being  recognised  as  the  natural  position  for 
an  altar,  it  became  customary  to  build  apsidal 
recesses  for  its  accommodation.  At  first  the 
secondary  apses  were  added  on  either  side  of  the 
central  recess,  but  as  the  main  apse  extended  and 
developed  into  the  choir,  occupying  the  full  width 
of  the  building,  the  apsidal  chapels  were  either 
relegated  to  the  transepts  or  were  ranged  round 


Fig.  30. — Development  of  basilica. 


the  main  central  apse,  an  arrangement  which 
became  a  special  feature  of  French  cathedral 
architecture. 

The  exterior  of  the  basilica  was  treated  in  the 
simplest  manner  possible,  with  no  attempt  at 


86  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


architectural  embellishment,  while  the  interior 
depended  upon  the  accessories  for  its  beauty, 
rather  than  upon  architectural  form.  The  walls 
inside  were  rich  with  veined  marbles,  and  brilliant 
with  mosaic — the  most  permanent  of  all  forms  of 
decoration,  for  the  golden  mosaics  of  these  early 
basilicas  are  still  undimmed  after  the  lapse  of 
centuries.  The  apse  and  the  wall  space  over  its 
arch — the  triumphal  arch,  as  it  was  called — were 
especially  rich  with  pictures  worked  in  these  small 
glass  cubes,  many  of  them  almost  childish  in  draw- 
ing, but  all  finely  decorative. 

Inlaid  marbles  were  used  for  the  floor,  in 
geometric  patterns,  forming  a  sort  of  mosaic 
known  as  opus  Alexand7Hniim — a  fine  specimen  of 
which  may  be  seen  in  England  in  the  presby- 
tery of  Westminster  Abbey.  In  many  of  the 
buildings  are  found  an  odd  mixture  of  columns 
and  capitals,  collected  from  the  older  buildings 
of  pagan  Rome  :  plain  and  fluted  shafts  are  placed 
side  by  side,  Ionic  columns  contrasting  with  Co- 
rinthian, as  in  S.  John  Lateran,  Corinthian  with 
Doric;  small  capitals  upon  large  columns,  shafts 
of  different  lengths  raised  upon  bases  of  unequal 
heights,  and  so  on  ;  for,  in  Ruskin's  words,  the 
architect  of  a  Romanesque  basilica  gathered  his 
columns  and  capitals  where  he  could  find  them, 
as  an  ant  picks  up  sticks" — a  heterogeneous  col- 
lection, sometimes,  built  up  with  little  intelligent 
skill,  guilty  of  little  architectural  style,  but  brim- 
ful of  history  ! 

Restoration  in  later  days  has  destroyed  much 
of  the  interest,  historical  and  otherwise,  of  these 
early  basilicas.  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore,  though  to 
some  extent  restored  in  the  Renaissance  period, 
when  the  panelled  ceiling  was  added,  still  retains 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  87 


almost  its  original  aspect,  and  affords  the  best 
example  of  an  old  Christian  basilica  in  Rome.  It 
is  a  three-aisled  building  in  the  form  of  a  long 
rectangle,  with  the  usual  apse,  and  with  a  narthex 
extending  along  the  whole  of  the  front.  The  nave 
is  flanked  by  five  colonnades  of  Ionic  columns, 
all  the  columns  being,  in  this  case,  of  one  design. 
Above  the  columns  the  clerestory  wall  is  carried 
upon  an  architrave,  not  upon  a  series  of  arches, 
as  in  St.  Paul's  Outside  the  Walls,  S.  Clemente, 
and  most  of  the  other  basilicas.  S.  Clemente,  al- 
though rebuilt  in  the  eleventh  century,  retains  its 
old  plan,  with  the  choir  enclosure,  ambos,  and 
baldaquin  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 

During  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  the  city 
of  Ravenna,  on  the  Adriatic  coast,  was  second 
only  to  the  old  capital  in  importance,  and  wit- 
nessed the  erection  of  churches  which  were  hardly 
inferior  to  the  finest  which  Rome  herself  pos- 
sessed. The  principal  of  these — the  ancient  ca- 
thedral of  Ravenna — was  destroyed  in  the  last 
century  to  make  way  for  a  modern  building  ;  but 
of  the  other  churches,  two  of  the  basilican  type 
of  especial  interest  have  been  preserved — S. 
ApoUinare  Nuovo  (a.d.  525)  and  S.  Apollinare 
in  Classe  (a.d.  549),  the  latter  situated  in  what 
was  formerly  the  port,  at  a  distance  of  three 
miles  from  the  city. 

The  plan  of  these  churches  is  similar  to  that 
of  the  Roman  basilicas  ;  but  as  Ravenna  differed 
from  Rome  in  possessing  few  pagan  temples 
which  might  be  despoiled  for  the  adornment  of 
the  new  buildings,  it  was  necessary  that  all  the 
details  required  in  the  basilicas  should  be  spe- 
cially worked  for  the  places  they  were  to  occupy. 


88  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Thus  in  Ravenna  one  does  not  meet  with  the  in- 
congruous medley  which  characterised  many  of 
the  Christian  basiUcas  of  Rome.  The  features  of 
classical  Rome  were  imitated,  but  they  were  sub- 
jected to  new  influences,  and  the  task  of  adapting 
them  to  the  new  requirements  called  forth  the 
best  inventive  powers  of  the  architects. 

A  feature  of  special  interest  in  the  Ravenna 
churches  is  the  dosseret^  or  impost  block,  in  shape 
like  an  inverted  pyramid,  which  was  interposed 
between  the  capital  and  the  springing  of  the 
arches— a  form  in  common  use  with  the  archi- 
tects of  Byzantium.    Ravenna  at  this  period  car- 


dosseret,  Ravenna.       been  given,  smce  it  Originated 


which  Constantine  founded  at  Byzantium. 

The  basilican  form  of  church  was  adopted  in 
all  parts  of  Italy,  and  continued  to  be  built  for 
many  centuries  with  but  slight  modifications  of 
the  interior.  More  changes  were  made  exter- 
nally, for,  instead  of   the  barn-like  treatment 


Fig.  31.— Capital  with 


ried  on  an  extensive  trade 
with  Byzantium,  and  was  sub- 
jugated by  the  Byzantine 
Emperor  Justinian  in  537. 
Thus  the  presence  of  Orien- 
tal details  in  the  buildings  can 
be  readily  accounted  for.  But, 
in  addition  to  these  details, 
there  are  found  in  Ravenna 
entire  buildings  —  to  which 
reference  must  now  be  made 
— constructed  upon  a  plan  es- 
sentially different  from  the 
basilican  type.  To  this  style 
the  name  of  Byzantine  has 


from  the  new  Eastern  capital 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  89 

which  characterised  the  early  basilicas,  we  find 
somewhat  elaborate  exterior  decorations  of  marble 
veneer,  as  at  S.  Miniato  in  Florence,  or  picturesque 
wall  arcades,  as  at  Pisa,  Lucca,  and  Pistoja. 

Byzantine  Architecture. — We  must  now 
return  to  notice  the  new  development  which  was 
taking  place  while  the  Christians  were  erecting 
their  first  basilicas  in  Rome.  Intelligent  builders 
in  that  city  were  scarce,  and  architectural  styles 
had  become  corrupted — a  result  to  which  the  pre- 
vailing practice  of  destroying  ancient  monuments 
and  transferring  their  materials  to  new  buildings 
for  reuse  had  largely  contributed.  But,  while 
Rome  was  languishing,  a  new  era  was  beginning 
to  dawn  for  ancient  Byzantium,  to  which  Con- 
stantine  transferred  the  seat  of  the  empire  in  the 
fourth  century.  Under  him  the  new  capital — 
situated  upon  the  highway  of  commerce  between 
East  and  West — grew  rapidly  in  importance. 
Architecture  kept  pace  with  the  other  develop- 
ments, but  it  was  carrried  out  under  new  condi- 
tions. Some  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
construction,  as  well  as  the  art  of  decoration  by 
mosaics  and  marble,  were  adopted  from  Rome; 
moreover  Constantine,  with  the  view  of  lowering 
the  importance  of  the  old  capital  as  a  rival,  car- 
ried off  from  the  principal  Roman  buildings  num- 
bers of  columns,  capitals,  and  such  other  archi- 
tectural ornaments  as  could  be  reused  in  his 
Byzantine  undertakings;  but  many  of  his  archi- 
tects, as  well  as  the  majority  of  the  artisans  he 
employed,  were  of  Greek  descent,  hailing  from 
Asia  Minor  and  the  East.  Byzantium,  too,  by  its 
trade  was  brought  into  direct  contact  with  other 
nations  of  the  far  East,  so  that  there  sprang  up 


90 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


an  Oriental  taste  for  brilliance  and  rich  decora- 
tion which  at  once  manifested  itself  in  the  archi- 
tecture. 

The  divergence  from  the  Roman  style  is 
readily  observable  in  the  church  plan.  The  sim- 
ple, rectangular,  three-aisled  basilica  was  almost 
unknown  in  Byzantium,  where  its  place  was  taken 
by  a  square,  vaulted  building.    In  approaching  a 


guishing  feature  of  Byzantine  architecture;  and 
its  constant  use,  for  the  purpose  of  roofing  over 
the  spaces,  had  much  to  do  with  the  radical 
change  of  plan  from  the  long  rectangle  to  the 
square,  or  Greek-cross  form  of  building. 

The  Byzantine  dome  was  carried  upon  four 
arches  enclosing  a  square,  as  shown  in  the  dia- 
gram, the  triangular  spaces  between  the  circular 
dome  and  the  arches  being  filled  in  with  "  pen- 
dentives,"  upon  w^hich  the  dome  really  rests.  It 
will  be  seen  that  each  course  of  masonry  forming 
the  pendentives  is  kept  in  position  by  reason  of 
its  convexity,  so  that  the  dome  (shown  by  the 
dotted  lines)  rests  securely  upon  the  upper  course, 
at  the  level  of  the  crown  of  the  arches — i.e.  upon 
the  four  pendentives. 


Fig.  32. — Diagram. 


typical  Byzantine  church, 
such  as  that  of  Hagia 
Sophia  at  Constantino- 
ple, or  S.  Mark's,  Venice, 
the  spectator's  eye  is  at- 
tracted by  the  broken 
sky-line,  formed  by  a 
series  of  roof-domes,  so 
different  from  the  unin- 
terrupted line  of  the  old 
basilica  roof.  The  dome, 
in  fact,  was  the  distin- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  91 

The  most  magnificent  example  of  the  Byzan- 
tine style  is  the  great  church  at  Constantinople, 
built  during  the  reign  of  Justinian  by  Anthemius 
of  Tralles  and  Isidorus  of  Miletus,  a.d.  532-538, 
and  dedicated  to  Hagia  Sophia,  the  Holy  Wisdom, 
more  commonly,  though  incorrectly,  called  the 
church  of  S.  Sophia.  The  main  building  is  roofed 
over  by  a  great  central  dome,  107  feet  in  diam- 
eter, lighted  by  a  ring  of  forty  small  arched 
windows  ranged  round  the  base.  The  spaces  on 
the  east  and  west  are  covered  by  half-domes, 
which  in  turn  cover  semicircular  apses.  Both  the 
half-domes  and  the  apses  are  lighted  by  rings  of 
windows,  for  upon  these  roof-openings  the  whole 
interior  largely  depends  for  light.  The  weight 
of  the  roof  is  almost  entirely  carried  upon  the 
massive  piers  which  divide  the  aisles  into  three 
bays;  so  that  the  whole  of  the  vast  nave,  meas- 
uring more  than  200  feet  in  length  and  100  feet 
in  breadth,  is  unobstructed  by  columns  or  piers 
of  any  kind.  Though  differing  essentially  from 
the  long,  wooden-roofed  basilicas  of  Rome,  the 
plan  of  H.  Sophia  bears  a  striking  resemblance 
to  that  of  the  basilica  of  Constantine  in  the 
Forum. 

The  vast  unobstructed  nave,  roofed  over  with 
dome  upon  dome,  culminating  in  the  great  central 
vault ;  the  numerous  windows,  at  all  heights, 
vying  with  the  arcades  of  arches  to  confuse  the 
eye  and  thus  enlarge  the  apparent  size  of  the 
great  hall ;  the  precious  marble  sheathings  of  the 
walls,  the  rich  and  delicately  carved  capitals,  and 
the  wonder  and  wealth  of  the  mosaics,  undimmed 
by  the  lapse  of  centuries,  with  which  the  vaults 
are  encrusted, — these  all  combine  to  make  the 
interior  of  this  vast  building  one  of  the  most  im- 


92  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


pressive  and  most  harmonious  of  the  triumphs  of 
architecture. 

The  many  influences  which  were  at  work  on 
Byzantine  architecture  resulted  in  a  great  variety 
of  plans.  At  Ravenna,  for  example,  where  the 
art  of  Rome  mingled  with  that  of  Byzantium,  we 
have  seen  that  in  some  of  the  basilicas — e.g. 
S.  Apollinare  in  Classe  and  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo 
— the  Roman  type  of  building  was  clothed  with 
details  of  Oriental  character.  But  other  churches 
differed  radically  from  these.  The  baptistery  of 
S.  John,  the  surviving  portion  of  a  basilica  of  the 
fifth  century,  shows  a  simple  octagonal  plan. 
Octagonal  also,  but  more  complicated,  is  the 
exquisite  church  of  S.  Vitale,  where  the  central 
dome  is  carried  upon  eight  piers,  between  each 
of  which  is  a  semicircular  niche  or  apse;  around 
these  is  carried  an  aisle  bounded  by  octagonal 
walls.  The  general  disposition  of  the  central 
portion  is  suggestive  of  the  Pantheon  with  its 
eight  niches,  and  is,  indeed,  almost  identical  with 
the  temple  of  Minerva  Medica  at  Rome. 

Little  attention  was  paid  to  the  architectural 
treatment  of  the  exteriors;  but  the  richness  of 
the  interiors  of  the  churches  of  the  Byzantine 
style  gives  them  an  interest  and  a  beauty  hardly 
surpassed  by  buildings  of  any  age.  The  vaulted 
system  of  construction  which  was  adopted  pro- 
duced unbroken  expanses  of  wall  and  ceilmg, 
which  were  disturbed  very  little  by  projections  or 
mouldings — smooth  surfaces  upon  which  a  deco- 
rative effect  was  gained  by  means  of  mosaics. 
Figure-sculpture  and  painting  had  become  almost 
lost  arts  at  this  time,  and  the  drawings  of  the 
mosaic-workers  were  rudely  simple ;  but  the  ma- 
terials with  which  the  artists  worked  their  sym- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  93 


bolical  glass-pictures  atoned  for  much  that  was 
lacking  in  the  design,  and  imparted  marvellous 
beauty  and  splendour  to  the  simple  lines  of  the 
architecture.  The  custom — which  originated  in 
Rome — of  encrusting  the  lower  walls  and  the 
piers  with  precious  marbles,  and  of  enriching  the 
floors  with  elaborate  marble  pavements  of  opus 
Alexandrinum^  contributed  to  the  general  effect 
of  splendour  and  brilliance. 

There  was  much  rich  carving  also  of  the 
marble  surfaces.  The  undersides  of  the  arches 
and  the  spandrils,  or  triangular  spaces  between 
them,  were  covered  with  delicately  incised  pat- 
terns; the  capitals  of  the  columns  were  exqui- 
sitely carved  in  crisp  low  relief,  with  symbolical 
emblems,  leaf-decoration,  etc.,  and  with  incised 
basket-work  patterns.  Sometimes  the  volutes 
and  other  features  of  the  classical  architecture  of 
Rome  were  suggested,  but  the  general  form  was 
similar  to  the  illustration  on  p.  88. 

Above  the  capital  was  the  impost-block,  or 
dosseret^  which  we  noticed  at  Ravenna — a  very 
familiar  feature  in  Byzantine  work,  and  probably 
a  reminiscence  of  the  fragmentary  entablature  of 
the  architecture  of  the  Romans. 

Like  the  Parthenon  in  the  midst  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  Greece,  the  great  church  of  Hagia 
Sophia  remains  unrivalled  by  any  building  of  its 
class.  Further  west,  the  most  beautiful  result 
of  the  influence  of  Byzantium  is  the  church  of 
S.  Mark  at  Venice.  The  original  church,  which 
stood  where  S.  Mark's  now  stands,  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  In  977  the  new  building  was  begun,  and 
was  probably  carried  out  mainly  by  builders  from 
Byzantium,  for,  with  the  exception  of  minor  de- 
tails of  later  date,  it  is  purely  Byzantine  in  char- 


94  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


acter.  Those  who  have  not  visited  Venice  will  be 
familiar,  from  photographs  and  drawings,  with 
the  form  of  S.  Mark's  richly  encrusted  front,  a 
fagade  worthy  of  the  picture  which  Ruskin  draws 
in  his  Stones  of  Venice  "  : — a  multitude  of  pil- 
lars and  white  domes,  clustered  into  a  long  low 
pyramid  of  coloured  light;  a  treasure-heap,  it 
seems,  partly  of  gold,  and  partly  of  opal  and 
mother-of-pearl,  hollowed  beneath  into  five  great 
vaulted  porches,  ceiled  with  fair  mosaic,  and  beset 
with  sculpture  of  alabaster,  clear  as  amber  and 
delicate  as  ivory.  And  round  the  walls  of  the 
porches  there  are  set  pillars  of  variegated  stones, 
jasper  and  porphyry,  and  deep-green  serpentine 
spotted  with  flakes  of  snow,  and  marbles,  that 
half  refuse  and  half  yield  to  the  sunshine,  Cleo- 
patra-like, ^  their  bluest  veins  to  kiss,' — the  shad- 
ow, as  it  steals  back  from  them,  revealing  line 
after  line  of  azure  undulation,  as  a  receding  tide 
leaves  the  waved  sand  ;  their  capitals  rich  with 
interwoven  tracery,  rooted  knots  of  herbage,  and 
drifting  leaves  of  acanthus  and  vine,  and  mystical 
signs,  all  beginning  and  ending  in  the  Cross;  and 
above  them,  in  the  broad  archivolts,  a  continuous 
chain  of  language  and  of  life — angels,  and  the 
signs  of  heaven,  and  the  labours  of  men,  each  in 
its  appointed  season  upon  the  earth ;  and  above 
these,  another  range  of  glittering  pinnacles,  mixed 
with  white  arches  edged  with  scarlet  flowers, — a 
confusion  of  delight,  amidst  which,  the  breasts  of 
the  Greek  horses  are  seen  blazing  in  their  breadth 
of  golden  strength." 

The  Byzantine  style  has  had  little  influence 
upon  the  architecture  of  Western  Europe.  In 
Greece  and  Russia  it  became,  and  has  continued 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  95 


to  be,  the  recognised  style  for  buildings  of  the 
Greek  Church,  though  it  has  naturally  received 
many  modifications.  When  Constantinople  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Turks  (1453),  the  old  archi- 
tecture was  revived,  and  was  applied  to  the  build- 
ing of  mosques,  so  that  it  was  destined  to  exert 
considerable  influence  upon  the  building  forms  of 
the  Moslems. 


V. 

MOHAMMEDAN. 

We  have  seen  that  Christianity  in  its  early  days 
had  little  influence  upon  architecture,  and  that  it 
did  little  towards  asserting  itself  in  this  direction 
during  the  first  300  years  of  its  existence.  Far 
different  was  it  with  respect  to  a  new  religious 
movement  which  sprang  up  while  the  Byzantine 
empire  was  at  the  height  of  its  power,  in  the 
sixth  century  of  the  Christian  era — a  movement 
which  rapidly  infected  the  East,  sweeping  over 
whole  countries  with  an  irresistible  tide,  and  at 
once  leaving  its  impress  upon  every  phase  of  art. 

Mohammed,  the  leader  of  the  new  faith,  lived 
from  A.D.  570-652.  So  sudden  was  the  growth 
of  his  influence  that  within  a  century  after  his 
death  he  was  acknowledged  as  the  Prophet  of 
God  in  Arabia,  Egypt,  and  Syria,  in  Persia,  in  In- 
dia as  far  as  the  Ganges,  along  the  north  of  Afri- 
ca, and  in  Spain.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
Mohammedan,  a  new  architectural  style,  grew  up, 
differing  widely  from  the  contemporary  Christian 


g6  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


architecture,  and  differing  also  in  each  of  the 
various  countries  in  which  it  prevailed. 

The  Arabs,  who  were  the  banner-bearers  of  the 
new  Prophet,  were  a  nomad  and  warlike  race,  but 
they  were  not  great  builders;  they  possessed,  in 
fact,  but  little  architecture  of  their  own  before  the 
period  of  their  conquests.  As  might  be  expected 
then,  the  earliest  Mohammedan  places  of  worship, 
or  mosques,  as  they  are  called,  were  insignificant, 
and  of  simple  form.  Even  at  Mecca,  the  birth- 
place of  the  Prophet,  the  only  temple  of  the 
Arabs — the  sacred  Kaabah — was  nothing  more 
than  a  square  tower  of  little  architectural  impor- 
tance. 

The  Koran,  the  sacred  book  of  religious  duties 
and  precepts,  contained  no  instructions  for  the 
followers  of  Mohammed  with  regard  to  the  build- 
ing of  places  of  assembly  or  of  worship.  The 
faithful  had  their  stated  times  for  prayer  when, 
turning  their  faces  towards  Mecca,  they  went 
through  the  prescribed  forms ;  but  for  these 
ceremonies  it  was  not  necessary  that  there  should 
be  any  assembling  together:  each  man  could 
offer  up  his  prayers  upon  his  own  housetop.  Nor 
were  the  mosques  required — as  in  the  case  of 
temples  of  other  religions — for  the  purpose  of 
enshrining  a  sacred  object  or  an  image  of  the 
Deity,  for  Mecca  was  the  one  place  sacred  to  all 
Mohammedans. 

At  first,  then,  there  was  little  building  in  con- 
nection with  the  new  religion  :  such  mosques  as 
were  erected  were  merely  shelters  for  purposes  of 
prayer  and  retirement,  of  simplest  form  and,  in 
the  majority  of  cases,  adapted  from  old  buildings. 
When  the  Arabs  began  to  erect  new  mosques, 
being  without  an  architecture  of  their  own,  they 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  97 


were  obliged  to  employ  the  native  architects  and 
workmen — a  fact  which  accounts  for  the  consider- 
able differences  of  styles  found  in  the  different 
countries. 

The  most  important  of  the  early  works  were 
the  mosques  of  Amrow  at  Cairo  (a.d.  642)  and  of 
El  Aksah  (a.d.  690)  at  Jerusalem.  These  earlier 
buildings  generally  took  the  form  of  arcaded 
cloisters  with  flat  timber  roofs  one  story  high, 
enclosing  a  large  square  courtyard.  On  the  side 
towards  Mecca  the  cloister  was  much  deeper  and 
contained  several  rows  of  columns.  On  this  plan 
was  the  magnificent  mosque  of  Ibn  Touloun, 
also  at  Cairo,  built  towards  the  end  of  the  ninth 
century.  Here  the  arcades  of  pointed  arches 
spring  from  series  of  columns.  On  the  side  of 
the  building  nearest  Mecca  the  arcades  are  five 
deep  ;  in  the  centre  of  the  outer  wall  on  this  side 
is  the  7nihrab^  or  prayer-niche,  indicating  the 
direction  of  the  sacred  city,  one  of  the  indispen- 
sable features  of  the  mosque-plan.  At  an  early 
date  minarets  were  added — slender  towers  from 
which  the  call  to  prayer  was  made  to  the  Moham- 
medans throughout  the  city.  The  minarets  as- 
sumed varied  elegant  forms,  and  added  much 
picturesqueness  to  the  exterior  design.  Usually 
they  were  octagonal,  upon  a  square  base,  the 
upper  part  being  circular,  and  marked  by  a  pro- 
jecting balcony  from  which  the  prayer-call  was 
sounded.  The  roofs  of  the  earlier  mosques  were 
flat  and  of  wooden  construction,  but  towards  the 
end  of  the  tenth  century  vaulting  was  introduced  ; 
and  the  vaulted  roofs  soon  became  one  of  the 
most  characteristic,  as  they  were  the  most  beauti- 
ful, of  the  features  of  Saracenic  architecture.  In 
the  tombs  of  the  Caliphs,  built  in  the  eleventh 

7 


gS  STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


century,  and  in  the  mosques  of  Barkouk  (1149), 
of  Sultan  Hassan  (1355),  and  of  Kait  Bey  (1463), 
all  at  Cairo,  we  find  not  only  this  form  of  roof, 
but  increasing  skill  in  workmanship  and  richness 
in  design. 

Every  example  shows  that  the  architecture  of 
the  Arabs  was  essentially  decorative  rather  than 
structural.  Externally  the  domes  were  decorated 
with  rich  and  intricate  geometric  designs;  simi- 
lar but  more  elaborate  treatment  was  applied  to 
the  whole  of  the  interior.  The  dome — after  the 
Byzantine  fashion — was  carried  on  pendentives, 
which  were  richly  decorated  with  honeycomb 
ornament.  This  honeycomb  corbelling  was  con- 
stantly used  by  the  Arabs  in  their  roofs,  for  it 
proved  an  effective  method  of  filling  up  the 
awkward  corners  resulting  from  the  practice  of 
carrying  octagonal  walls  upon  a  square  base. 
The  whole  of  the  mosque  interior  was  treated 
with  lavish  decoration,  in  which  colour  played  a 
most  important  part.  Ceilings  were  panelled  out 
with  intricately  carved  beams  and  were  enriched 
with . harmonious  patterns;  niches  were  resplen- 
dent with  brightly  coloured  honeycomb  roof-cor- 
bels ;  all  the  wall  surfaces  were  encrusted  with 
exquisite  marbles  or  with  brilliant  arrangements 
of  tiles,  in  which  the  Arab  showed  his  fertility  of 
invention  equally  with  his  feeling  for  colour. 
In  accordance  with  the  rules  laid  down  in  the 
Koran,  no  imitation  of  natural  objects  was  per- 
mitted in  the  decoration  ;  the  designers  were  there- 
fore restricted  to  the  use  of  flowing  and  geometric 
patterns,  which  thus  became  characteristic  of  their 
work.  In  many  cases  inscriptions  from  the  Koran 
were  introduced,  the  ornamental  Arabic  lettering 
forming  a  very  effective  embellishment.    An  in- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  99 


teresting  feature,  which  marks  the  architecture 
of  the  Arabs  to  the  present  day,  was  the  deHcate 
tracery  which  frequently  filled  the  windows  and 
the  wall-openings  with  complicated  geometric 
designs. 

In  addition  to  the  semicircular  arch,  three 
other  forms  are  found  in  Mohammedan  buildings 
for  the  arcades  and  door  openings.  In  vSyria  and 
Egypt  occurs  the  pointed  arch,  similar  to  that 
used  by  the  Gothic  architects  of  Western  Europe. 
In  India  and  in  Persia  the  most  common  form  has 
the  curves  near  the  apex  bent  slightly  upwards, 
giving  to  the  arch  an  outline  like  the  keel  of  a 
vessel;  this  form  is  sometimes  called  the  keel 
arch.  The  third  form,  the  horse-shoe  arch,  is 
most  frequently  met  with  amongst  the  works  of 
the  Moors  in  Spain. 

Mention  of  the  Moors  recalls  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  most  splendid  examples  of  Arabic  architec- 
ture are  found  farther  west  and  in  the  continent 
of  Europe.  With  the  exception  of  the  mosques 
of  Cairo,  few  important  works  were  produced  in 
Northern  Africa.  When,  however,  the  Moors 
invaded  Spain  in  710,  there  sprang  up  in  that 
country  a  new  Arabian  empire  whose  architecture 
was  destined  to  rival  that  of  the  East. 

The  first  important  building  was  the  mosque 
at  Cordova,  begun  in  786  by  the  Caliph  Abd-er- 
Rahman.  This  consisted  of  an  arcaded  hall  in  the 
form  of  a  parallelogram  420  feet  by  375  feet — thus 
covering  a  larger  area  than  any  Christian  church 
with  the  exception  of  S.  Peter's  at  Rome.  The 
height,  however,  was  not  more  than  30  feet ;  the 
ceiling  was  of  wood  richly  carved  and  decorated, 
and  was  carried  upon  seventeen  rows  of  thirty- 
three  columns  each,  all  having  two  tiers  of  horse- 


lOO        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


shoe  arches.  The  mihrab-niche,  indicating  the 
direction  of  Mecca,  was  richly  encrusted  with 
delicate  carving  and  with  mosaics.  This  sanc- 
tuary at  Cordova,  which  was  rebuilt  in  the  tenth 
century,  is  considered  by  Fergusson  to  be  "the 
most  beautiful  and  elaborate  specimen  of  Moor- 
ish architecture  in  Spain,  and  of  the  best  age." 
Unfortunately  but  little  of  the  great  mosque  re- 
mains in  its  original  state. 

Fate  has  been  kinder  to  the  great  citadel  pal- 
ace at  Granada  known  as  the  Alhambra — the 
Mecca  of  travellers  in  Spain  at  the  present  day. 
This  great  work  was  begun  in  1 248  by  Mohammed- 
ben-Alhamar,  after  his  expulsion  from  Seville,  and 
was  completed  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  Those  who  have  not  been  able  to  visit 
the  Alhambra  are  afforded  the  opportunity  of 
studying  the  wealth  of  its  design  in  the  magnifi- 
cent illustrations  and  drawings  of  Owen  Jones; 
interesting  reproductions  of  parts  of  the  building, 
by  this  artist,  may  be  seen  at  the  Crystal  Palace. 

The  Alhambra  is  considered  the  gem  of 
Hispano-Moresque  art — a  distinction  due  as  much 
to  its  excellent  state  of  preservation  as  to  the 
delicate  beauty  of  its  work.  Two  large  courts 
occupy  the  greater  portion  of  the  ground-plan  : 
the  more  celebrated  of  these,  the  Court  of  the 
Lions,  is  surrounded  by  light  arcades,  with  a 
central  fountain  supported  by  twelve  lions,  from 
which  it  takes  its  name.  The  whole  of  the  in- 
terior is  covered  with  delicate  ornamentation  of 
exquisite  beauty,  to  which  the  harmonious  col- 
ouring adds  wonderful  richness  and  charm. 

The  Alcazar  (castle)  at  Seville,  an  earlier  build- 
ing than  the  Alhambra,  was  probably  even  more 
magnificent,  but  it  has  become  much  dilapidated, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.        10 1 


and  its  character  has  been  destroyed  by  altera- 
tions. Of  greater  interest,  in  the  present  day,  is 
the  Giralda  in  the  same  city,  a  building  in  the  form 
of  a  massive  square  tower,  not  unhke  a  minaret 
on  a  grand  scale.  Unlike  the  Moslem  builders  in 
the  East,  however,  the  Moors  in  Spain  never  built 
minarets  in  connection  with  their  mosque  archi- 
tecture, and  the  Giralda  appears  not  to  have 
been  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  the  call  to 
prayer. 

Mohammedan  architecture  flourished  in  Spain 
until  the  reconquest  of  the  country  by  the  Chris- 
tians and  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  in  1492. 
The  Moors  had  obtained  a  footing  also  in  Sicily, 
whence  they  were  driven  out  at  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century,  leaving  behind  them  buildings 
which  very  strongly  influenced  the  architecture 
of  the  Christian  builders  who  succeeded  them  in 
the  island. 

Upon  the  capture  of  Constantinople  by  the 
Turks  in  1453,  the  Christian  churches  there  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans.  The 
church  of  Hagia  Sophia,  the  masterpiece  of  the 
Byzantine  builders,  was  at  once  converted  into  a 
mosque,  and,  strange  to  say,  served  as  the  model 
for  the  architecture  which  sprang  up  to  meet  the 
new  religious  requirements.  This  new  style  cul- 
minated, just  a  century  later,  in  the  Suleimaniyeh, 
the  great  mosque  built  by  Soliman  the  Magnificent 
in  1553. 


I02        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


VI. 

ROMANESQUE  ARCHITECTURE. 

We  must  now  hark  back  to  Italy,  where  the 
early  Christians  were  left  at  work  upon  their 
basilicas. 

The  transference  of  the  seat  of  government 
by  Constantine  to  Byzantium,  and  the  consequent 
decay  of  the  Roman  empire,  checked  intelligent 
building  for  a  period  in  Italy.  But  as  Christianity 
continued  to  spread,  there  was  an  increasing  de- 
mand for  accommodation  on  the  part  of  its  ad- 
herents, and  builders  were  called  upon  to  provide 
it,  first  in  this  town,  then  in  the  other.  Through- 
out the  Dark  Ages — from  the  fifth  to  the  tenth 
century — a  considerable  amount  of  building  was 
done,  but  very  little  architecture  was  produced 
worthy  of  the  name,  except  in  those  cities  in 
which,  as  at  Ravenna  and  Venice,  it  was  developed 
under  Byzantine  auspices.  Meanwhile,  however, 
the  Church  was  strengthening  her  authority  and 
broadening  her  influences,  and  a  new  style  of 
architecture  slowly  developed, — with  natural 
modifications  arising  out  of  climatic  and  other 
local  conditions — and  gradually  spread  through- 
out Western  Europe.  This  new  architecture, 
based  upon  the  traditions  of  Rome  and  of  the 
early  Christian  builders  of  that  city,  received  the 
name  of  Romajtesque, 

Although  Rome's  influence  was  impressed 
upon  the  Byzantine  style  of  architecture  as  well 
as  upon  that  which  we  here  call  Romanesque, 
it  is  desirable  to  keep  one  style  quite  distinct 
from  the  other.    The  two  showed  marked  differ- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


ences  from  the  beginning  ;  and  when  the  Churches 
of  Rome  and  of  Byzantium  diverged  upon  ques- 
tions affecting  the  ritual  and  the  creed,  the  di- 
vergence became  still  greater  in  the  architecture 
of  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Churches.  That 
of  the  Eastern  Church — the  Orthodox  Church, 
so-called — has  never  departed  from  the  Byzantine 
models,  and  the  influence  of  Byzantium  has  thus 
spread  throughout  Greece,  Asia  Minor,  and  Rus- 
sia. On  the  other  hand,  the  Western  Church  has 
always  looked  to  Rome  for  her  earliest  inspira- 
tions and  has  drawn  upon  the  mother-city  for  her 
architecture,  though  different  countries  have,  nat- 
urally, developed  their  own  characteristic  fea- 
tures. 

To  deal  first  with  Italy.  During  the  forma- 
tive period,  which  may  be  said  to  have  ended 
with  the  tenth  century,  architecture — such  as  it 
was — was  almost  entirely  ecclesiastical.  The 
basilican  churches  were  the  natural  outcome  of 
the  situation  in  Rome,  where  basilicas  were  to 
hand  to  serve  as  models,  and  where  on  all  sides 
classic  temples,  with  their  choice  columns  and 
marble  wall-linings,  were  available  for  the  Chris- 
tian despoiler.  But  away  from  Rome  other  con- 
ditions prevailed  :  materials  were  necessarily  sim- 
pler, and  greater  originality  was  required  on  the 
part  of  the  architects,  in  order  to  invest  their 
designs  with  dignity  and  interest.  Bitter  experi- 
ence also  had  taught  the  need  of  replacing  the 
low  wooden  roofs  of  the  basilica  by  a  more  endur- 
ing form  of  vaulted  construction. 

In  due  course,  then,  it  came  about  that  in 
Italy  three  distinct  styles  of  Romanesque  archi- 
tecture were  developed  :  the  Basilican,  or  Early 
Christian — which,  as  we  have  seen,  continued  to 


104        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


prevail  in  Rome — the  Lombard,  and  the  Tuscan, 
or  Pisan. 

The  Lombard  style,  as  the  name  denotes, 
flourished  chiefly  in  the  cities  of  the  Lombardy 
Plain,  in  the  north  of  Italy,  from  Milan  on  the 
west  to  Bologna  on  the  east.  These  two  cities, 
and  their  neighbours,  Piacenza,  Verona,  and 
Pavia,  all  contain  good  examples  of  the  style  in 
S.  Zeno  (Verona),  S.  Ambrogio  (Milan),  the  ca- 
thedral of  Piacenza,  and  others. 

The  old  church  of  S.  Zeno  at  Verona,  of  the 
twelfth  century,  shows  many  characteristic  fea- 
tures. The  fagade  was  simple  in  composition, 
with  a  fine  breadth  of  flat  surface,  emphasised  at 
intervals  by  a  series  of  arcades  filled  in  with  slen- 
der columns  and  arches,  or  by  arcaded  corbels 
carved  under  the  slopes  of  the  gable.  Long, 
slender  pilasters  divided  the  front  into  three  parts, 
thus  suggesting  the  interior  nave-and-aisle  divi- 
sion of  the  basilica  ;  in  other  respects  the  basilican 
form  was  lost  externally,  for  the  vaulted  roof  was 
wholly  concealed  by  a  simple  low-pitched  gable. 
A  rose-window  occupied  the  space  under  the  cen- 
tre of  the  gable,  and  beneath  this  a  projecting 
porch  marked  the  doorway.  The  columns  of 
the  portico  rested  upon  the  backs  of  crouching 
lions — familiar  features  to  all  who  have  visited 
the  old  cities  of  Lombardy.  Elaborate,  gro- 
tesque carving  enriched  the  entrance,  and  atoned 
somewhat  for  the  severe  treatment  of  the  upper 
portion  of  the  front.  The  fagades  were  always 
•solemn  and  dignified,  and,  with  their  slender  col- 
umns and  lightly  projecting  arcades,  relied  upon 
the  crisp  Italian  sunlight  for  relief  and  for  vigor- 
ous effects  of  light  and  shade ;  else  they  were 
inclined  to  gloominess  and  severity.  Tennyson, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  105 


visiting  these  cities  under  a  dull  sky,  noted 
how — 

Stern  and  sad  (so  rare  the  smiles 
Of  sunlight)  look'd  the  Lombard  piles  ; 
Porch-pillars  on  the  lion  resting, 
And  sombre,  old,  colonnaded  aisles. 

In  connection  with  many  of  the  churches,  as 
at  S.  Zeno,  Verona,  and  the  cathedral  at  Piacenza, 
was  found  a  square  campanile  or  bell-tower,  sim- 
ple in  form  and  always  well-proportioned. 

Internally  the  plan  of  the  Lombard  churches 
resembled  the  old  basilicas,  with  such  modifica- 
tions as  were  required  by  the  introduction  of  the 
massive  vaulted  roofs — e.g.  the  reduction  in  width 
of  the  nave  and  the  substitution  of  sturdy  piers 
for  the  rows  of  graceful  columns.  Sometimes  a 
crypt  and  shrine  were  found  beneath  the  choir, 
the  floor  of  the  choir  being  raised  a  few  steps 
above  the  general  floor  level. 

The  Tuscan-Romanesque  was  not  unlike  the 
Lombard,  modified  by  the  different  social  condi- 
tions which  existed  in  Florence,  Pisa,  and  the 
neighbouring  cities  of  Tuscany.  The  finest  exam- 
ples are  found  at  Pisa,  where  the  Romanesque 
buildings  in  the  Piazza — the  cathedral  (a.d.  1063- 
iioo),  the  baptistery  (a.d.  1153),  and  the  leaning 
tower  (a.d.  1174) — form  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing architectural  groups  in  Italy. 

The  Tuscan  designs  are  lighter  and  more  ele- 
gant than  those  of  the  northern  cities.  Timber 
ceilings  were  adhered  to,  in  connection  with  the 
basilican  forms,  permitting  the  use  of  columns 
instead  of  piers  for  the  interior  nave-and-aisle 
divisions.  The  fagades  were  almost  entirely  cov- 
ered with  a  lavish  arrangement  of  wall-arcades 
and  galleries,  as  seen  in  the  Pisan  buildings;  or 


Io6        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


they  were  divided  into  panels  of  dark  and  white 
marbles,  as  at  S.  Miniato  in  Florence.  The  arcad- 
ing  was  highly  decorative,  the  tendency  to  become 
monotonous  being  in  most  instances  averted  by 
skilful  and  varied  treatment  of  the  different  tiers. 
The  tower  at  Pisa  forms  an  exception,  for  the 
constant  repetition  of  bands  of  arcades,  all  of 
equal  height,  from  the  base  to  the  summit,  de- 
stroys the  interest  of  the  building  as  an  archi- 


FiG.  33. — Cathedral  and  leaning  tower,  Pisa. 


tectural  design,  and  almost  justifies  Mr.  Ruskin's 
description  of  it  as  the  one  thoroughly  ugly 
tower  in  Italy." 

Tuscan-Romanesque  was  much  influenced  by 
the  Byzantine  methods  of  building  and  of  decora- 
tion, for  Pisa  was  a  port  maintaining  an  extensive 
trade  with  Byzantium.  This  fact  probably  ac- 
counts for  the  use  of  the  marble  panelling,  which 
became  characteristic  of  Florentine  architecture, 
and  influenced  that  of  the  later  Gothic  period. 

Lucca  and  Pistoja,  neighbours  of  Florence, 
have  good  examples  of  the  Pisan  style;  and  in 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  107 


many  parts  of  Italy  churches  were  erected  to 
which  the  generic  term  Romanesque  may  be  ap- 
plied, in  which  were  blended  the  methods  and 
traditions  of  the  Byzantine,  the  Lombard,  and  the 
Tuscan  builders. 

In  Sicily  the  rule  of  the  Mohammedans,  which 
began  a.d.  827,  and  lasted  through  two  centuries, 
left  its  impress  upon  the  island's  architecture,  so 
that  we  find  Arabic  influences  mingled  with  those 
of  Byzantium  and  of  Italy.  The  beautiful  cathe- 
dral of  Monreale,  near  Palermo  (a.d.  1175),  is 
built  upon  the  plan  of  a  Roman  basilica,  and 
reveals  a  picturesque  mixture  of  the  different 
styles.  The  nave  columns  have  finely  carved 
capitals  of  the  distinctive  Byzantine  form  with 
the  dosseret  supporting  pointed  arches.  A  dado 
of  white  marble  lines  the  lower  portion  of  the 
walls,  above  which  they  are  richly  encrusted  with 
mosaics  representing  Biblical  stories.  The  timber 
roof  is  somewhat  elaborate,  and  is  richly  treated 
with  colour  decoration,  after  the  manner  of  the 
Mohammedan  interiors. 

During  the  first  ten  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era  architecture  made  little  progress  in  Europe, 
outside  of  Italy  and  of  the  eastern  countries  which 
came  more  directly  under  Roman  influence.  Spain 
alone,  in  the  West,  had  become  a  flourishing  centre 
of  the  art,  thanks  to  the  incursion  of  the  Moors. 
Throughout  this  period  society  in  Western  Europe 
was  in  a  state  of  chaos ;  lawlessness  was  rife,  and 
progress  in  architecture  or  in  any  of  the  fine  arts 
was  impossible.  The  church  alone,  as  an  insti- 
tution, showed  some  little  vitality,  for  within  its 
monastic  walls  prevailed  a  peace  which  was  un- 
affected by  the   external   turmoil   and  unrest. 


Io8        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Building  on  an  extensive  scale  was,  moreover, 
checked  by  a  very  wide-spread  belief  in  the  theory 
of  the  impending  end  of  the  world  in  the  year 
looo;  but  this  check  was  a  temporary  one,  for 
the  fear  of  the  dread  event  led  many  an  uneasy 
conscience  to  contribute  liberally  to  the  monas- 
teries, or  to  seek  refuge  in  them;  the  new  cen- 
tury, therefore,  found  these  institutions  wealthy 
and  powerful  as  they  had  never  been  before.  A 
period  of  great  activity  ensued,  and  architecture 
at  once  began  to  make  considerable  progress  in 
all  directions. 

Almost  all  the  new  buildings  of  importance 
were  ecclesiastical,  and  the  builders  naturally 
looked  to  Rome  as  their  centre  and  their  source 
of  technical  help  and  inspiration.  But,  to  many, 
Rome  was  a  far-off  country,  and  the  new  occa- 
sions taught  new  methods  and  devices  which  soon 
made  the  term  Romanesque  a  very  comprehensive 
title,  for  under  this  head  may  be  conveniently 
classed  all  the  "round-arched  Gothic"  which  pre- 
vailed throughout  the  west  of  Europe  before  the 
introduction  of  the  true  Gothic,  and  which  in  Eng- 
land culminated  in  the  Norman  "  buildings  of 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries. 

The  architecture  of  each  country,  governed  by 
local  conditions  and  traditions,  was  marked  by  its 
own  distinctive  features,  but  showed  at  the  same 
time  a  general  similarity  of  style.  Almost  all  the 
buildings  were  constructed  with  the  same  object, 
and  it  became  a  question  of  solving  the  same 
problem  in  different  ways — the  problem,  namely, 
of  combining  the  vaulted  roof  construction  with 
the  basilican  plan.  The  heavy  "barrel-vault"  of 
the  roof  demanded  massive  walls  and  piers,  and 
the  use  of  the  semicircular  arch  required  piers  or 


STORY  OF  THE  ART   OF  BUILDING.         1 09 


very  sturdy  columns  at  frequent  intervals.  The 
resulting  style  was  of  necessity  somewhat  pon- 
derous, so  that  relief  was  sought  in  rich  carving 
and  in  a  multiplicity  of  recessed  spaces ;  and  the 
architects  did  not  successfully  grapple  with  the 
difficulty  until  the  introduction — m  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries — of  ribbed  vaulting,  which, 
with  the  pointed  Gothic  arch,  revolutionised  the 
conditions  of  construction,  and  gave  the  builders 
a  happy  and  complete  solution  of  their  problem. 
What  is  called  "  Gothic  "  architecture  is  in  reality 
nothing  more  than  the  logical  outcome  of  the 
progressive  Romanesque;  the  transition  is  a  nat- 
ural one,  just  as,  in  English  architecture,  is  the 
transition  from  the  round-arched  Norman  to  the 
pointed  style  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
name  Gothic  "  is  an  unfortunate  one,  for  readers 
are  apt  to  regard  it  as  a  foreign  and  distinct  style, 
breaking  in  upon,  and  interrupting  the  continuity 
of,  the  architecture  of  the  period.  It  is  only  by 
following  the  Romanesque  architects  in  their  con- 
structive difficulties  with  the  round  arch  that  we 
are  able  to  appreciate  what  the  Gothic  principles 
did  for  their  architecture,  and  the  extent  to  which 
they  enlarged  its  scope. 

To  turn  first  to  France.  In  the  Romanesque 
buildings  of  this  country  may  be  traced  the  re- 
sults of  various  influences.  Many  of  the  southern 
churches  possess  marked  Byzantine  features,  the 
outcome  of  a  very  considerable  trade  which  was 
earned  on  between  the  ports  on  the  south  coast, 
Venice,  and  the  east.  In  the  church  of  S.  Front 
at  Perigueux  (a.d.  1047)  the  plan  strikingly  re- 
sembles that  of  S.  Mark's,  Venice:  the  interior  is 
roofed  over  with  domes  in  a  similar  manner,  but 
they  are  constructed  externally  in  stone,  instead 


no        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


of  having  false  wooden  roofs  as  the  domes  of  S. 
Mark's.  The  interior  of  the  building  is  finished 
in  stone,  with  none  of  the  rich  interior  decoration 
of  the  Venetian  church.  At  Cahors  is  a  domed 
cathedral  of  the  same  date,  undoubtedly  copied 
from  a  church  in  Byzantium.  In  other  parts  of 
the  country  the  designs  were  influenced  by  the 
examples  of  classic  Roman  buildings,  such  as 
those  found  at  Nimes,  Aries,  Avignon,  etc.  In 
the  churches  of  Notre  Dame  at  Avignon  and 
S.  Trophime  at  Aries  we  find  Corinthian  capi- 
tals, pilasters,  enrichments,  and  other  features  bor- 
rowed directly  from  the  classic  models. 

Auvergne  contains  some  excellent  examples  of 
Romanesque  churches,  built  of  the  lava  of  this 


Fig  34. — Plan  of  Notre  Dame  du  Port. 


well-known  volcanic  district.  Let  us  consider 
the  church  of  Notre  Dame  du  Port  at  Clermont, 
an  excellent  and  typical  example  of  the  style. 
Lava  is  used  in  the  construction,  and  some  effect 
is  gained  by  the  use  of  lavas  of  different  colours. 
The  plan  of  this  church  shows  a  long  nave  covered 
by  barrel  vaulting,  with  small  transepts  and  an 
apsidal  end.  Round  the  apse  is  carried  a  series 
of  small  apsidal  chapels.     These  small  apses, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  in 


built  round  the  main  apse,  form  what  is  called 
a  chevet^  which  became  an  essential  feature  in 
French  cathedral  plans.  Such  a  group  of  small 
chapels,  ranged  round  the  end  of  a  lofty  cathe- 
dral, produces  a  singularly  interesting  and  digni- 
fied interior  effect.  The  feature  was  introduced 
by  the  Romanesque  builders,  and  probably  origi- 
nated in  the  Auvergne  district,  where  it  is  found 
in  the  Romanesque  churches  at  Issoire,  Le  Puy, 
Clermont,  and  elsewhere.  The  Gothic  architects 
retained  the  chevet^  so  that  it  figures  in  the 
plans  of  most  of  the  great  French  cathedrals  of 
that  period. 

The  chief  constructional  difficulty  with  which 
the  Romanesque  builders  had  to  contend  was 
the  method  of  support  for 
the  massive  barrel-vaulted 
roofs  which  covered  the 
naves.  The  old  Romans, 
as  we  saw,  escaped  the 
trouble  of  side-thrusts  and 
strains  by  building  up 
their  vaulted  roofs  and 
domes  in  solid  concrete, 
so  that  the  mass  rested 
securely  upon  the  walls 
without  any  lateral  thrust, 
just  as  a  lid  rests  upon  a 
box.  But  stone  vaulting  exerted  a  lateral  thrust, 
which  required  to  be  counteracted  by  means  of 
heavy  abutments,  or  buttresses.  The  illustra- 
tion shows  an  outline  section  of  Notre  Dame  du 
Port,  which  indicates  the  method  of  buttressing 
adopted.  Here  the  thrust  of  the  great  barrel 
vault  over  the  nave  would  tend  to  push  apart  the 
walls  upon  which  it  rests.    This  thrust  is  coun- 


FlG.  35. — Section  through 
Notre  Dame  du  Port. 


112         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


teracted  by  the  use  of  half-barrel  vaults  over  the 
aisles.  A  glance  at  the  section  will  show  that 
such  an  arrangement  made  it  impossible  to  light 
the  upper  part  by  means  of  clerestory  windows  ; 
the  nave  vault  was  therefore  dependent  upon 
brilliant  weather  to  relieve  it  from  a  state  of 
gloom.  In  some  examples,  as  at  Autun  (a.d. 
1 150)  clerestory  windows  were  introduced,  the 
nave  vault  being  raised  sufficiently  high  for  the 
purpose  above  the  roofs  of  the  side  aisles  ;  but 
the  constructive  methods  were  not  equal  to  the 
task,  for  in  almost  all  cases  the  vaults  gave  way 
and  required  to  be  reconstructed.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  twelfth  century  the  use  of  flying  but- 
tresses to  resist  the  lateral  thrusts  made  it  possi- 
ble to  combine  clerestory  windows  with  barrel 
vaults;  but  the  difficulty  was  not  satisfactorily 
surmounted  until  the  introduction  of  groined 
vaults  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

We  cannot  take  leave  of  the  Romanesque 
buildings  of  France  without  touching  upon  the 
works  of  the  great  Norman  dukes — so  intimate- 
ly connected  with  the  architecture  of  our  own 
island. 

The  best-known  example  among  the  abbey 
churches  of  Normandy,  and  one  of  the  noblest 
buildings  of  the  time,  was  the  Abbaye-aux- 
Hommes,  or  S.  Etienne,  at  Caen,  begun  in  1066 
by  William  of  Normandy — better  known  to  us 
as  William  the  Conqueror — in  commemoration  of 
his  victory  at  Hastings.  The  church  is  lofty  in 
its  proportions,  with  nave,  aisles,  and  transept. 
Its  east  end  was  originally  in  the  form  of  a  simple 
apse,  but  this  has  been  superseded  by  the  chevet\ 
the  west  front  is  finely  proportioned  and  is  flanked 
by  two  towers,  between  which  the  nave  rests, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  113 


The  spires  which  crown  the  towers  are  later  ad- 
ditions. The  nave  and  aisles  are  vaulted,  and 
a  clerestory  is  obtained  by  a  series  of  flying 
buttresses.  The  system  of  vaulting  is  of  interest 
as  illustrating  the  stage  which  preceded  the  in- 
troduction of  the  pointed  arch,  and  the  conse- 
quent solution  of  the  constructive  difficulties 
which  were  constantly  baffling  the  builders  of 
this  period. 

Another  Norman  church  of  note  is  the  Abbaye- 
aux-Dames,  or  S.  Trinite,  at  Caen  (1083).  The 
fine  church  of  Mont  S.  Michel  has  undergone 
many  alterations  in  later  times,  and,  like  many 
cathedral  and  other  churches  in  Normandy  and 
Brittany  (and  in  England),  has  lost  much  of  its 
original  character. 

Germany. — Romanesque  architecture  in  Ger- 
many followed  somewhat  closely  on  the  lines  of 
that  of  North  Italy,  as  might  be  expected,  for 
there  was  constant  communication  between  the 
two  countries,  and  a  large  German  population 
in  Milan.  Indeed,  the  Lombard-Romanesque  of 
North  Italy  may  be  said  to  have  emanated  from 
Germany. 

Of  the  earlier  buildings  the  cathedral  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  built  by  Charlemagne  (about  800) 
is  interesting,  architecturally  as  an  imitation  of 
S.  Vitale  at  Ravenna,  and  historically  as  the  crown- 
ing place  of  the  Western  emperors.  It  is  a  po- 
lygonal building  of  sixteen  sides,  surmounted  by 
an  octagonal  dome. 

Before  the  thirteenth  century  the  art  of  build- 
ing did  not  make  great  progress  in  any  parts  of 
Germany  other  than  Saxony  and  the  Rhenish 
provinces;  in  the  districts  of  the  Rhine,  however, 
8 


114        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Romanesque  architecture  may  be  said  to  have 
developed  more  fully  than  in  any  other  country 
in  Europe.  The  exterior  of  the  Rhenish  church- 
es was  characterised  by  picturesque  grouping  of 
octagonal  turrets,  the  introduction  of  arcaded  re- 
cesses to  decorate  the  lower  portions  of  the  wall- 


FiG.  36. — Church  of  the  Apostles,  Cologne. 


space,  and  of  open  arcaded  galleries  under  the 
gable-ends  and  the  cornices  of  the  apses  and  tur- 
rets. The  Church  of  the  Apostles  at  Cologne 
(i  160-1200)  is  a  successful  example  of  this  treat- 
ment. The  view  in  the  illustration  shows  the 
arrangement  of  the  eastern  portion  with  three 
apses  opening  off  the  central  space  of  the  choir 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


"5 


mm 


Fig.  37.— Plan  of  Church  of 
the  Apostles. 


— an  arrangement  productive  of  dignified  and 
noble  effect  both  externally  and  internally.  The 
plan  of  the  building  shows  a  tri-apsidal  end  and 
a  broad  nave,  flanked  on  either  side  by  aisles  of 
half  its  width.  The  transepts  are  at  the  west 
end,  and  the  crossing  is  covered  with  a  Byzantine 
dome  carried  on  penden- 
tives;  the  nave  has  been 
vaulted  at  a  later  period. 
S.  Maria  in  Capitolio  and  S. 
Martin  (1150),  both  in  Co- 
logne, show  similar  char- 
acteristic features,  and 
make,  with  the  Church  of 
the  Apostles,  one  of  the 
most  interesting  groups  of  churches  which  the 
Romanesque  period  produced.  Other  good  Ger- 
man examples  are  the  cathedrals  of  Mayence 
(tenth  and  eleventh  centuries).  Spires,  and  Worms 
(both  of  the  eleventh  century),  each  of  which  has 
a  vaulted  nave  of  the  twelfth  century. 

Spain.  —  Comparatively  little  Romanesque 
work  is  to  be  found  in  Spain,  for  throughout  this 
period  a  great  part  of  the  country  was  under 
the  dominion  of  the  Moors.  The  capture  of  To- 
ledo in  1062  paved  the  way  for  a  series  of  suc- 
cesses of  the  Christians ;  but  it  was  not  until  1492 
that  the  Moorish  rule  was  entirely  destroyed  by 
the  fall  of  Granada.  Such  churches  as  were  built 
appear  to  have  been  constructed  on  the  lines  of 
the  French  churches  of  Auvergne. 

The  church  of  S.  lago  at  Compostella  (1080) 
is  a  good  example,  with  nave  and  transepts,  choir 
and  chevet.  In  most  instances,  however,  a  depar- 
ture was  made  from  French  tradition  by  the  erec- 
tion of  a  dome  on  pendentives  over  the  crossing 


Il6         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


of  the  nave  and  transepts,  as  in  the  old  cathedral 
at  Salamanca  (twelfth  century).  It  is  strange 
that  no  details  of  the  Romanesque  churches  of 
Spain  show  traces  of  influence  of  the  Moorish  ar- 
chitecture which  abounded  on  every  side,  though 
this  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the 
Christians  heartily  hated  the  Mohammedans  and 
everything  that  belonged  to  them. 

England. — The  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain 
appear  to  have  troubled  themselves  little  about 
architecture  before  the  Norman  conquest.  Prior 
to  this  period  numerous  churches  were  erected  by 
the  Saxons  and  the  Celts,  but  the  remains  are 
sufficient  only  to  prove  that  these  early  builders — 
of  the  primitive  Romanesque  "  period — were 
endowed  with  little  technical  skill.  The  tower  of 
Earl's  Barton,  in  Northants,  and  the  little  church 
at  Bradford-on-Avon  are  perhaps  the  best  exist- 
ing examples  of  the  work  of  the  Saxons.  The 
rare  occurrence  of  Saxon  remains  at  the  present 
time  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that,  with  the 
advent  of  the  Normans,  the  ruder  primitive  build- 
ings were  destroyed  to  make  way  for  the  new 
style  which  swept  so  rapidly  over  the  country. 
Possibly,  too,  the  generous  use  of  wood  in  the 
construction  led  to  decay.  Timber  was  much  in 
vogue  among  the  earlier  Saxons,  and  its  use 
appears  to  have  influenced  the  details  of  their 
later  stone  work.  Their  triangular-headed  win- 
dow openings  and  turned  baluster"  window 
mullions  are  certainly  suggestive  of  timber  con- 
struction. 

Before  the  landing  of  William  the  Norman, 
the  influence  of  the  Normans  was  beginning  to 
make  itself   felt,  for — England's   insular  posi- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  117 

tion  notwithstanding — it  was  impossible  that  the 
country  should  be  unaffected  by  the  art  which 
was  making  such  gigantic  strides  within  a  few 
miles  of  its  seaboard.  The  Norman  conquest 
(1066),  and  the  sub- 
sequent occupation 
of  the  country  by 
the  barons  and  ec- 
clesiastics of  '  Nor- 
mandy, effected  a 
rapid  social  revolu- 
tion, and  speedily 
transformed  the  po- 
litical organizations 
of  the  island.  As 
an  immediate  result 
of  the  change  there 
set  in  a  period  of 
extraordinary  activ- 
ity in  the  building  of  churches,  abbeys,  and  cas- 
tles, by  means  of  which  the  invaders  were  ena- 
bled to  establish  themselves  more  securely  upon 
the  lands  plundered  from  the  conquered  Saxons. 
Many  churches  were  founded  by  the  Norman  him- 
self, while  his  followers  vied  one  with  another  in 
their  efforts  to  surpass  all  that  had  been  seen  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Channel. 

The  Romanesque,  or — to  use  a  more  familiar 
term — the  Norman  period,  during  which  the  ar- 
chitecture imported  by  the  invaders  prevailed  in 
England,  lasted  for  a  little  more  than  a  century 
— i.e,  from  the  conquest  until  the  accession  of 
Richard  I.  in  1189.  Between  these  dates  building 
operations  were  carried  on  throughout  England 
with  almost  incredible  activity.  Not  only  in  many 
great  English  cathedrals  do  we  find  extensive  re- 


FiG.  38. — Saxon  window,  Earl's 
Barton. 


Il8        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


mains  of  Norman  work,  but  in  a  vast  number  of 
churches  in  every  part  of  the  country  fragments 
and  details  are  found,  pointing  to  the  fact  that  a 
complete  Norman  structure  once  occupied  the 
site,  from  which  almost  every  trace  of  the  original 
work  has  disappeared.  It  has  been  computed 
that  no  less  than  7,000  churches  were  built  within 
a  century  after  the  conquest. 

The  Romanesque,  or  Norman,"  cathedral  of 
England  is  marked  by  features  similar  to  those 
which  characterise  the  Romanesque  buildings  of 
Normandy.  Its  general  appearance  is  sturdy,  with 
solid  walls,  cushion-shaped  capitals, 

Massive  arches,  broad  and  round 

On  ponderous  columns,  short  and  low. 

Compared  with  its  Continental  prototype,  the 
typical  Norman  cathedral,  such  as  that  of  Dur- 
ham or  Peterborough,  is  longer  in  proportion  to 
its  width,  the  length  being  especially  marked  in 
the  choir.  A  square  east  end  takes  the  place  of 
the  apse  or  chevet  of  French  cathedrals,  and  the 
transepts  are  more  important.  A  great  central 
tower,  carried  over  the  crossing  of  the  nave  and 
transepts,  is  also  characteristic  of  the  English 
plan. 

Internally  there  was  generally  the  intention — 
suggested  by  the  massive  piers  and  columns — to 
vault  over  the  aisles  and  the  nave.  The  vaulted 
roofs,  however,  through  lack  of  funds  or  other 
considerations,  were  seldom  completed.  Flat, 
low-pitched  roofs  and  wooden  ceilings  were  sub- 
stituted ;  and  as  these  were  light  and  easily  sup- 
ported, the  builders  were  able  to  insert  large 
clerestory  windows,  and  to  secure  light  and  lofty 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  119 


effect  at  little  cost.  The  wooden  roofs,  however, 
were  liable  to  injury  from  fire,  and,  in  many  in- 
stances, were  burned  or  destroyed,  so  that  in 
several  cathedrals,  as  at  Gloucester,  Durham,  and 
Exeter,  they  were  replaced  at  a  later  date  by  stone 
vaulting. 

The  details  of  the  Norman  churches  in  Eng- 
land, with  few  exceptions,  are  extremely  simple. 
The  piers  were  often  perfectly  plain  and  round,  as 
at  Gloucester;  sometimes  clustered,  as  at  Peter- 
borough; or,  as  at  Durham,  clustered  and  round 
piers  were  used  alternately.  Doorways  were  sim- 
ple in  outline,  circular-headed,  and  with  little  of  the 
added  ornamentation  which  appeared  in  the  gables 
of  the  later  Gothic  entrances  ;  richly  carved  capi- 
tals decorated  the  clustered  columns  of  the  open- 
ing, and  a  profusion  of  carving  covered  the  arch- 
mouldings.  The  design  showed  little  variety; 
the  zig-zag  ornamentation,  easily  shaped  with 
the  axe,  occurred  with  endless  repetition,  varied 
occasionally  by  the  well-known  birds'-beak  " 
moulding,  familiar  to  the  most  casual  observer 
of  Norman  work.  Window  openings  were  treated 
more  simply  than  doorways,  but  were  sometimes 
enriched  with  the  zig-zag,  as  at  Iffley  Church, 
near  Oxford.  The  cushion-shaped  capitals,  sug- 
gestive of  the  sturdy  echinus  of  the  Greek  Doric 
column,  were  usually  left  quite  plain,  though  the 
Norman  mason  took  pleasure  in  carving  quaint 
devices  or  grotesque  faces  upon  the  caps,  or 
upon  the  projecting  stones  of  the  external  corbel 
courses,  after  the  buildings  had  been  completed. 
In  the  staircase  at  Canterbury  Cathedral,  shown 
in  the  frontispiece,  we  have  a  good  illustration  of 
the  Norman's  method  of  treating  the  arched 
openings. 


I20        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Portions  of  many  of  the  old  Norman  structures 
have  been  rebuilt  at  a  later  date.  The  following 
list  includes  the  principal  monuments  of  the  period 
in  England.  Less  important,  though  not  less  inter- 
esting, are  the  examples  found  among  the  parish 
churches  throughout  the  country  : 

Canterbury  Cathedral        .  Crypt. 

Carlisle  Cathedral      .       .  Nave. 

Ely  Cathedral    .       .       .  Nave. 

Winchester  Cathedral        .  Transepts. 

Waltham  Abbey        .       .  Choir. 

Durham  Cathedral     .       .  Galilee  Porch,  Nave,  and 

Chapter-house. 

Peterborough  Cathedral     .  Nave. 

Rochester  Cathedral  .       .  Nave. 

Norwich  Cathedral    .       .  Nave. 

Hereford  Cathedral   .       .  Nave. 

Christ  Church,  Oxford       .  Nave  and  Transepts. 

Gloucester  ....  Nave. 

Tower  of  London      .       .  White  Chapel. 
S.  Alban's  Abbey. 

Church  of  S.  Bartholomew  the  Great,  London. 


VII. 

GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE, 

The  Romanesque  architects  on  the  Continent, 
as  we  have  seen,  had  made  great  progress  in  the 
art  of  building  by  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, and  had  mastered  most  of  the  problems 
which  had  puzzled  their  predecessors,  so  that 
their  architecture  throughout  Europe — especially 
in  the  north  and  west,  had  regained  much  of  its 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  121 


lost  dignity.  But  they  had  not  yet  arrived  at  a 
successful  method  of  roof  treatment.  The  wooden 
roof  was  unsatisfactory,  and  led  to  destruction  by 
fire  of  many  a  substantial  building;  while  the 
alternative  to  this,  the  barrel-vaulting,  which  had 
been  used  in  the  buildings  of  the  old  Romans,  was 
too  ponderous.  True,  the  ^' lids of  solid  con- 
crete with  which  the  Romans  covered  their  vast 
buildings  exerted  no  lateral  pressure  upon  the 
walls,  but  their  enormous  weight  required  equally 
massive  walls  to  carry  them.  When  masonry 
took  the  place  of  concrete,  the  vaults  were  still 
more  difficult  to  support,  for  the  arched  form  of 
the  heavy  vault  tended  to  force  the  walls  apart — 
exerted  a  lateral  thrust,  as  we  say — so  that  it  was 
necessary,  not  only  to  make  the  walls  massive  and 
strong,  but  also  to  reduce  the  span,  or  width  of 
the  vaulted  spaces. 

It  was  in  their  efforts  to  find  a  solution  to 
these  difficulties  that  the  builders  hit  upon  a  new 
principle  which  brought  about  nothing  less  than  a 
revolution  in  the  art  of  building — the  principle  of 
ribbed  vaultings  which,  in  fact,  formed  the  struc- 
tural basis  of  the  style  of  architecture  known  as 
"  Gothic." 

The  term  Gothic  is  as  unfortunate  as  it  is 
inapt.  Gothic  architecture  is  the  natural  outcome 
of  Romanesque,  though  the  term  seems  to  sug- 
gest a  break  in  the  progressive  character  of  the 
art,  and  has  doubtless  proved  a  stumbling-block 
to  many  students,  by  leading  them  to  regard  the 
styles  as  distinct  from,  and  possibly  opposed  to, 
one  another.  "  Gothic  "  was  merely  a  contemp- 
tuous term  applied  to  the  style  by  the  classical 
enthusiasts  of  the  seventeenth  century,  who 
looked  upon  a  Goth  as  a  typical  barbarian,  and 


T22        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


who  regarded  anything  non-classical  as  bar- 
barous; but  the  name  has  stuck,  as  bad  names 
have  a  habit  of  doing,  and  is  still  in  general  use 
to  denote  the  pointed  style  which  developed  in 
the  twelfth  and  flourished  in  the  succeeding  cen- 
turies. The  pointed  arch,  it  should  be  noted,  was 
in  reality  incidental  to  the  development  of  Gothic, 
though  it  is  usual  to  consider  it  the  characteristic 
feature  of  the  style. 

In  ribbed  vaulting,  a  skeleton  vault  is  formed 
of  ribs  carried  transversely  and  diagonally  across 
the  nave,  so  as  to  form  a  strong  open  framework, 
and  to  concentrate  the  weight  and  pressure  of  the 
roof  upon  the  isolated  points  of  support  from 
which  the  ribs  spring,  the  spaces  between  the  ribs 
being  then  filled  in  with  lighter  masonry.  The 
advantages  of  this  form  of  construction  are  read- 
ily seen  :  the  roof  became  lighter,  and  could  span 
larger  areas;  and,  as  the  pressure  was  concen- 
trated upon  certain  points,  it  was  necessary  only 
to  strengthen  the  v/all  at  these  points,  instead  of 
making  it  thick  and  massive  throughout.  But- 
tresses were  introduced  for  this  purpose;  and  as 
the  wall  between  the  buttresses,  relieved  from  the 
pressure  of  the  roof,  became  now  of  secondary 
importance — for  it  was  merely  a  screen  to  keep 
out  the  weather — it  could  be  constructed  of  light 
materials,  or  opened  up  in  the  form  of  windows. 
With  this  innovation,  then^ — the  application  of  the 
principles  of  concentratio?i  of  st7'ains  and  of  balaiiced 
thrusts — the  Early  Gothic  builders  took  up  the 
constructive  problems  just  where  the  Romanesque 
builders  were  being  baffled  by  them,  and  soon 
added  fresh  dignity  and  grandeur  to  their  work. 

Let  us  see  to  what  extent  these  new  princi- 
ples affected  design  and  construction.    The  illus- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  123 


tratioii  shows  the  plan  of  a  highly  developed 
Gothic  building  of  simple  form,  Sainte  Chapelle 
in  Paris,  built  by  Louis  IX.  (1243-1247).  The 
upper  chapel  here  is  an  unbroken  room,  100  feet 
in  length,  33  feet  wide,  and  60  feet  in  height, 
roofed  over  with  a  series  of  groined  vaults  spring- 
ing from  slender  columns.  The  thrust  of  the 
columns  is  taken  by  buttresses — very  sturdy,  as 
we  see  in  the  plan — and  carried  up  the  entire 
height  of  the  exterior  walls.  Now  note  that  the 
massive  walls,  which  would  have  been  necessary 
to  support  such  a  superstructure  in  Romanesque 


Fig.  39. — Plan  of  Sainte  Chapelle. 

work,  have  disappeared.  The  wall  lengths  be- 
tween each  vault  have,  so  to  speak,  been  turned 
round  upon  their  axes,  and  placed  at  right  angles 
to  their  original  direction,  so  as  to  form  a  series 
of  buttresses,  with  abutment  sufficient  to  with- 
stand the  thrust  of  the  groined  roof-vaulting. 
These  wall  spaces  between  the  buttresses  are  no 
longer  required  for  constructive  purposes,  and 
can  therefore  be  filled  with  large  windows,  des- 
tined soon,  as  a  natural  further  development,  to 
become  rich  with  the  glories  of  stained  glass. 

In  a  design  such  as  Sainte  Chapelle,  a  Gothic 
church  without  aisles,  the  problem  of  dealing  with 
the  thrusts  is  presented  in  its  simpler  form,  as  the 
walls  which  take  the  thrusts  are  external  walls. 


124        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 

But  when  aisles  are  introduced  at  the  side  of  the 
nave,  a  fresh  difficulty  arises.  The  buttresses 
cannot  now  be  carried  vertically  down,  for  they 
would  block  up  the  aisles  with  their  mass.  To 
permit  of  their  being  ranged  along  the  external 
face  of  the  aisle-walls,  a  new  feature  is  brought 
into  play — the  flying  buttress,  which  bridges  over 


Fig.  40.-Romanesque  contrasted       Perform    only  the 


weight,  the  builders  are  enabled  to  make  them 
not  only  lofty,  but  slighter  and  more  graceful. 

The  flying  buttress,  then,  soon  became  a  char- 
acteristic feature  of  Gothic  building.  True,  its 
necessary  presence  hampered  the  exterior  design 
in  some  respects,  but  its  decorative  possibilities 
were  speedily  recognised  and  seized  upon.  So 
ornate  and  ornamental  did  it  become  that  in 
many  French  cathedrals  it  has  the  appearance  of 
being  a  purely  decorative  feature,  placed  in  its 
position  for  no  other  reason  than  to  delight  the 
eye  and  to  endow  the  design  with  grace,  and  with 
that  suggestion  of  aspiration — rather  than  re- 


the  intervening 
space,  and  supplies 
at  once  the  neces- 
sary counter-thrust 
to  the  roof-vaulting 
of  the  nave.  As  the 
nave  piers  and  the 
walls  over  them  are 
now  relieved,  by 
the  buttresses,  of 
the  more  serious 
part  of  their  bur- 
den, and   have  to 


with  Gothic. 


simple  task  of  car- 
rying  the  vertical 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  125 


pose — which  is  inseparably  connected  with  true 
Gothic: 

The  Grecian  gluts  me  with  its  perfectness, 
Unanswerable  as  Euclid — self-contained  ; 

But,  ah  !  this  other,  this  that  never  ends, 
Still  climbing,  luring  fancy  still  to  climb, 
Imagination's  very  self  in  stone. 

While  the  buttress  enabled  the  builder  to  intro- 
duce height  into  his  design  as  one  of  the  chief 
elements  of  effect,  the  pointed  arch  solved  the 
difficulty  of  bridging  over  varying  widths  at  any 
required  height.  The  Gothic  architect  could  thus 
give  play  to  his  fancy  and  imagination,  little 
troubled  by  problems  of  construction,  and  unfet- 
tered by  considerations  of  precedent. 

The  Gothic  cathedral  has  been  styled  a  roof 
of  stone  with  walls  of  glass,"  and  not  inaptly  ; 
for  the  walls  no  longer  required  to  be  of  massive 
construction  to  carry  the  weight,  became  little 
more  than  screens,  either  of  masonry  or  of  glass, 
filling  in  the  spaces  between  the  buttresses,  to 
keep  out  the  weather  and  to  give  effect  to  the 
design  ;  and  no  treatment  of  these  spaces  could 
secure  so  glorious  a  result  as  did  the  introduction 
of  great  traceried  windows  filled  with  richly 
coloured  glass.  So  beautiful  was  the  painted 
glass  of  the  period  that  it  at  once  made  its  in- 
fluence felt  upon  the  architecture  :  the  windows 
were  increased  in  size,  and  the  walls,  as  far  as 
possible,  were  illuminated.  "  Far  more  impor- 
tant," remarks  Fergusson,  "  than  the  introduction 
of  the  pointed  arch  was  the  invention  of  painted 
glass,  which  is  really  the  important  formative 
principle  of  Gothic  architecture ;  so  much  so, 
that  there  would  be  more  meaning  in  the  name 


126         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


if  it  were  called  the  'painted  glass  style'  instead 
of  the  pointed-arch  style.  .  .  .  We  must  bear  in 
mind  that  all  windows  in  all  churches  erected 
after  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  were  filled, 
or  were  intended  to  be  filled,  with  painted  glass, 
and  that  the  principal  and  guiding  motive  in  all 
the  changes  subsequently  introduced  into  the 
architecture  of  the  age  was  to  obtain  the  greatest 
possible  space  and  the  best  localities  for  its 
display." 

The  extensive  use  of  glass  soon  led  to  a  great 
development  of  another  feature — window  tracery. 
The  nature  of  the  glass  required  that  the  window 
areas  which  it  filled  should  be  divided  up  into 
a  number  of  smaller  spaces.  Thus,  although 
perhaps  no  feature  of  Gothic  design  appears 
more  purely  ornamental  than  the  elaborate  tracery 
of  the  windows,  it  has,  like  almost  all  decorative 
parts,  a  constructional  raison  d'etre,  forming,  in 
fact,  part  of  the  skeleton  of  the  Gothic  frame. 
The  attention  given  by  designers  to  tracery  led 
it,  by  gradual  stages,  from  simple  beginnings  to  a 
period  of  florid  elaboration,  so  that  by  this  fea- 
ture, more  readily  than  by  any  other,  it  is  possible 
to  trace  the  various  periods  in  the  history  of 
Gothic  architecture. 

France. — Gothic  architecture  in  France,  the 
country  of  its  birth,  may  be  divided  into  three 
periods,  of  which  the  approximate  dates  are  : 

Early  Period  {cir.  1 160-1270). 

Middle  Period  {cir.  1270-1370). 

Florid  or  Flamboyant  Period  (cir.  1370-1550). 

The  second  half  of  the  twelfth  century  was  a 
period  of  extraordinary  activity  with  the  French 
cathedral  buiiders.    The  Church  at  this  time  was 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  127 


a  strong  and  popular  institution.  Many  of  its 
cathedrals,  built  by  the  careful  but  unscientific 
Romanesque  builders,  were  collapsing  under  the 
weights  of  their  ponderous  vaults,  and  were  in 
urgent  need  of  renovation.  In  other  parts  new 
structures  were  required,  and  with  such  energy 
did  the  bishops,  backed  up  by  the  people,  set  to 
work,  that,  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  as 
many  as  sixteen  cathedrals  were  being  built  or 
entirely  reconstructed,  among  them — to  give  only 
the  more  familiar  names — being  those  of  Bayonne, 
Lisieux,  Laon,  Tours,  Poitiers,  Troyes,  Chartres, 
Bourges,  and  Notre  Dame  at  Paris. 

The  buildings  of  this  date  were  marked  by 
simplicity  of  treatment  of  the  groined  vaulting, 
of  the  arrangement  of  parts,  and  of  the  detail : 
the  carving  was  simple  and  vigorous,  the  windows 
long  and  narrow,  and  frequently  grouped  in 
pairs  beneath  a  pointed  arch,  the  head  pierced 
with  a  circular  light,  as  in  our  plate-tracery.  The 
interior  division  into  bays  was  marked  on  the 
exterior  by  a  uniform  series  of  pinnacled  flying 
buttresses.  A  steep  wooden  roof,  covered  with 
lead  or  tiles,  completed  the  structure,  protecting 
and  allowing  space  inside  for  the  lofty  stone 
vaulting. 

Notre  Dame  at  Paris  (i  163-12 14),  one  of  the 
earliest,  shows  a  perfectly  symmetrical  plan  with 
semicircular  east  end,  richly  sculptured  triple 
western  portals,  rose-windows  in  the  chief  gables, 
and  most  of  the  characteristic  features  of  the 
French  cathedral  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

Later  in  date  than  Notre  Dame  was  the  grace- 
ful cathedral  of  Chartres  (i  194-1230),  the  richly 
decorated  northern  spire  of  which,  added  in  the 
sixteenth  century,    contrasts  in    an  instructive 


128        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


manner  with  the  simple  and  beautiful  lines  of  its 
southern  companion.    The  magnificent  windows — 

Pride  of  France, 
Each  the  bright  gift  of  some  mechanic  guild, 
Who  loved  their  city,  and  thought  gold  well  spent 
To  make  her  beautiful  with  piety — 

are  filled  with  a  glorious  setting  of  stained  glass, 
a  lasting  memorial  of  the  interest  and  enthusiasm 
which  all  classes  displayed  in  the  building  of 
their  temple. 

In  the  beautiful  cathedral  of  Amiens  (1220- 
1288),  pure  Gothic  found  its  highest  expression; 
"  in  dignity  inferior  to  Chartres,  in  sublimity  to 
Beauvais,  in  decorative  splendor  to  Rheims,  and 
in  loveliness  of  figure-sculpture  to  Bourges.  It 
has  nothing  like  the  artful  pointing  and  moulding 
of  the  arcades  of  Salisbury — nothing  of  the  might 
of  Durham.  And  yet,  in  all,  and  more  than 
these,  ways,  outshone  or  overpowered,  the  cathe- 
dral of  Amiens  deserves  the  name  given  to  it 
by  M.  Viollet  le  Due — 'the  Parthenon  of  Gothic 
Architecture.'  "  ^ 

As  the  type  of  French  Gothic,  the  cathedral  of 
Amiens  is  contrasted  later  with  that  of  Salisbury 
(P-  139)- 

Almost  invariably  the  French  cathedral  plan 
showed  a  semicircular  or  apsidal  arrangement  of 
the  east  end.  At  Laon  and  Poitiers  we  find  the 
square  end,  so  general  in  England;  but  in  the 
typical  plan  the  east  end  had  a  series  of  radiating 
chapels,  forming  a  chevet — an  arrangement  already 
noticed  in  the  Romanesque  church  of  Notre  Dame 


Ruskin,  "  The  Bible  of  Amiens." 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.         1 29 


at  Clermont,  and  seen  in  the  illustration  of  Amiens 
Cathedral. 

The  transepts  were  not  so  fully  developed  as 
in  England  :  Bourges  has  none,  and  Notre  Dame 
at  Paris  has  only  rudimentary  ones.  The  main 
(west)  front  usually  contained  a  triple  portal, 


Fig.  41. — Plan  of  Amiens  Cathedral. 

and  over  this  ran  a  frieze  of  niches  filled  with 
royal  statues.  The  superb  porches,  with  elabo- 
rately sculptured,  deeply  recessed  archways,  en- 
riched with  "  dedicated  shapes  of  saints  and 
kings,"  are  specially  characteristic  of  French  de- 
sign, and  form  the  richest  feature  of  the  exterior. 
In  many  examples  they  project  a  considerable 
distance  in  front  of  the  main  wall  and  are  roofed 
with  massive  gables.  Magnificent  examples  are 
found  at  Bourges,  Chartres,  Amiens,  and,  perhaps 
finest  of  all,  at  Rheims ;  witness  the  old  couplet — 

Clocher  de  Chartres,  nef  d' Amiens, 
Choeur  de  Beauvais,  portail  de  Rheims — 

which  puts  before  us  the  popular  idea  of  the  four 
grandest  features  to  be  found  among  the  Gothic 
cathedrals  of  France. 

The  French  buildings  are  generally  on  a  vaster 
and  more  imposing  scale  than  the  English  cathe- 

9 


130        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


drals.  There  is  no  Gothic  design  in  England 
comparable  in  these  respects  with  the  giants  at 
Rheims,  Paris,  Bourges,  Amiens,  or  Chartres,  all  of 
which  were  in  course  of  erection  in  the  early  half 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  In  respect  of  length 
the  cathedrals  of  France  did  not  differ  greatly 
from  the  English  examples,  for  the  longest 
(Amiens,  520  feet)  is  exceeded  by  the  cathedrals 
at  Winchester  and  Ely;  but  they  surpassed  the 
English  in  width  and  area,  and  especially  in  bold- 
ness and  loftiness  of  the  vaulting. 

To  the  First  Period  belong  several  monastic 
buildings,  amongst  others  the  picturesque  Mont 
S.  Michel,  portions  of  which,  however,  have  been 
rebuilt  later. 

Of  the  buildings  of  the  Second  Period  the  most 
noteworthy  is  the  unfinished  cathedral  of  Beauvais. 
The  foundation  dates  from  1225,  but  the  greater 
portion  of  the  design  of  this — the  loftiest  and 
slenderest  of  all  French  cathedrals — was  not  car- 
ried out  until  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  In  this  design  the  builders  carried  the 
Gothic  principles  to  the  extreme  limit  of  daring, 
and  in  a  few  years  the  slender  supports  collapsed, 
and  the  building  required  to  be  almost  entirely 
reconstructed.  As  it  now  stands,  the  height  from 
the  pavement  to  the  top  of  the  vaulting  is  not 
less  than  160  feet !  Similar  measurements  at  Ely, 
a  long  cathedral  of  the  English  type,  give  less 
than  75  feet. 

Few  cathedrals  of  the  Middle  Period  were  com- 
pleted, except  after  long  delays,  for  the  enthu- 
siasm had  waned.  In  S.  Ouen  at  Rouen,  built 
between  1320-1350,  we  have  a  fine  example,,  with 
additions  of  a  later  date.  Limoges  (1272)  was 
begun  on  an  extensive  scale,  but  is  still  incom- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  131 


plete  ;  Toulouse,  begun  in  the  same  year,  was  not 
completed  until  the  sixteenth  century  ;  Narbonne 
is  still  unfinished.  Yet  there  was  no  inconsider- 
able amount  of  building  carried  on,  and  many 
additions  were  made  to  the  earlier  designs  which 
have  greatly  enhanced  their  beauty  and  interest. 
The  great  rose- windows,  as  at  Rouen,  are  fea- 
tures of  this  period. 

Profusion  of  rich  detail  and  florid  elaboration  of 
tracery  curves  marked  the  Third,  or  Plamboyant, 
Period.  Such  work  is  seen  in  the  church  of  S. 
Maclou  at  Rouen;  finer  still  in  the  rich  fagade 
which  was  added  to  the  older  cathedral  of  Rouen 
at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  In 
each  of  these  examples  may  be  noticed  the  striking 
development  of  elaborate  tracery;  the  gables  over 
the  porches  are  an  open  network  of  stone,  sug- 
gestive of  windows  without  glass.  Notable  ex- 
amples of  the  flamboyant  work  are  the  facades  of 
Troyes  and  of  Rheims,  the  church  of  S.  Jacques 
at  Dieppe,  and  the  Hotel  de  Ville  at  Rouen,  of 
the  same  date  as  the  cathedral  front  (1500).  The 
florid  architecture  of  the  sixteenth  century  cul- 
minated in  such  fantastic  work  as  the  sepulchral 
church  of  Brou,  in  which  almost  all  dignity  of 
composition  is  frittered  away  in  a  dazzling  pro- 
fusion of  lacelike  carving,  marvellous  master- 
pieces of  the  craftsmen's  art — 

Flemish  carvers,  Lombard  gilders, 
German  masons,  smiths  from  Spain — 

but  a  decadent  form  of  architecture. 

The  Gothic  spirit  in  France  was  not  confined 
to  ecclesiastical  buildings,  but  pervaded  every 
branch  of  secular  and  domestic  architecture. 
Many  a  French  town,  as  Troyes,  Provins,  or 


132         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Bourges,  retains  fine  specimens  of  the  later  Gothic 
house:  witness  the  picturesque  house  of  Jacques 
Coeur  at  Bourges  (1443).  The  more  important 
buildings  were  of  stone;  but  in  shop-fronts  and 
designs  on  a  smaller  scale  the  half-timbered  f agade, 
with  its  overhanging,  steep-pitched  gables  and  fully 
moulded  beams  and  brackets,  was  more  frequently 
seen.  With  later  domestic  buildings  details  be- 
come less  distinctly  Gothic,  but  the  high  gables 
and  steep  roofs  and  other  Gothic  traditions  sur- 
vived, and,  as  we  shall  see,  strongly  influenced  the 
designs  of  the  French  Renaissance  builders  of  the 
sixteenth  and  later  centuries. 

Great  Britain. — Gothic  architecture  in  Great 
Britain  is  usually  divided  into  three  periods — Early 
English,  Decorated,  and  Perpendicular — the  dura- 
tion of  which  coincided  fairly  accurately  with  the 
thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  centuries  re- 
spectively. We  shall,  therefore,  not  be  greatly  at 
fault  in  regarding  Early  English  Gothic  as  the  typi- 
cal style  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Decorated  of  the 
fourteenth,  and  Perpendicular  of  the  fifteenth  and 
later  centuries.  Needless  to  say,  the  periods  over- 
lapped one  another  to  some  extent,  and  the  style 
did  not  suddenly  change  with  the  advent  of  each 
new  century.  The  course  of  architecture  through- 
out the  periods  was  uninterrupted,  as  we  shall  see 
by  noting  the  leading  characteristics  of  each  : — 

Early  English^  or  Thirteenth  Century. — Long, 
narrow,  lancet-headed  windows;  angle-buttresses 
set  squarely;  deeply  undercut  mouldings  to  the 
arches;  slender,  detached  columns  to  doors  and 
windows ;  circular  capitals,  with  crisp,  bulbous 
foliage;  clustered  piers;  little  ornament,  except 
the  dog-tooth. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  133 


Decorated^  or  Fourteenth  Century. — Greater  rich- 
ness of  detail ;  buttresses  enriched  with  crockets, 
niches,  etc.,  and  often  set  obliquely  at  the  angles; 
windows  wider  and  more  important,  and  divided 
by  mullions,  the  upper  part  filled  in  with  geo- 
metrical or  (later)  elaborate  flowing  tracery; 
mouldings  shallower  and  less  numerous;  carved 
foliage  in  the  capitals  less  crisp,  with  natural  forms 
of  oak  leaves,  etc. ;  finely  carved  figures  and  boss- 
es; ball'floiver  oxvLd,v(\^Xi\.. 

Perpendicular^  or  Fifteenth  Century  and  Later. — 
Larger  windows  with  numerous  mullions,  and  with 
vertical  tracery  carried  through  to  the  top  of  the 
arch,  often  intersected  by  horizontal  transomes ; 
almost  all  wall  surfaces  panelled,  in  imitation  of 
the  window  treatment;  doorways  frequently  fin- 
ished with  a  square  label  over  the  arch ;  weak, 
shallow  mouldings;  octagonal  piers;  arches,  at 
the  later  period,  flattened  at  the  apex,  and  struck 
from  four  centres;  open  timber  roofs  of  elabo- 
rate construction,  with  carved  figures  of  angels; 
more  elaborate  vaulting  ;  richly  ornamented  para- 
pets with  battlements ; '  Ttcdor-rose  ornament. 

There  was  no  Gothic  cathedral-building  era 
in  England  to  compare  with  the  early  part  of  the 
thirteenth  century  in  France.  We  have  seen  that 
the  period  following  the  Norman  Conquest  had 
been  a  very  active  one,  and  had  covered  the 
island  with  such  ecclesiastical  buildings  as  were 
unrivalled  even  in  France  at  that  time.  These 
grand  structures  were  sufficient  for  the  people's 
immediate  wants.  But  as  the  Gothic  tide  began 
to  make  its  presence  felt,  the  new  features  were 
gradually  introduced  into  new  work  which  was  in 
progress,  and,  after  a  period  of  transition,  began 
to  supplant  the  sturdy  Norman  details  and  the 


134        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


round  arch;  though  there  was  no  wholesale  pull- 
ing down  and  rebuilding  of  cathedral  churches, 
such  as  was  witnessed  in  France.  Thus  it  comes 
about  that  the  cathedrals  of  England  are  less 
homogeneous  than  those  of  France,  for,  with  one 
or  two  exceptions,  they  represent  a  mixture  of 
styles,  and  are  in  reality  Norman  structures  which 
have  been  remodelled  and  enlarged  by  the  Gothic 
builders. 

This  fact  tended  to  emphasise  a  characteristic 
peculiarity  of  the  English  cathedral  plan — its  re- 
markable length  in  proportion  to  its  breadth.  The 
Anglo-Norman  builders,  probably  for  constructive 
reasons,  showed  a  preference  for  narrow  naves; 
and  as  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  widen 
the  naves  without  pulling  down  the  buildings,  the 
subsequent  Gothic  additions  were  all  in  the  direc- 
tion of  emphasising  the  length  rather  than  the 
width,  so  that  in  several  of  the  English  plans  we 
find  the  proportions  of  length  to  breadth  as  great 
as  7  to  I.  At  Salisbury,  an  entirely  Gothic  build- 
ing, the  dimensions  are  450  feet  and  78  feet  re- 
spectively— almost  6  to  I.  The  long,  narrow 
naves  of  the  English  cathedrals  are  ill-adapted 
for  a  service,  or  for  enabling  a  congregation  to 
see  what  was  taking  place  at  the  altar;  but  there 
were  compensations,  for,  as  Fergusson  points  out, 
in  pictorial  effect  they  surpass  everything  erect- 
ed on  the  Continent,  unless  with  greatly  increased 
dimensions  of  height  or  width.  Whether,  there- 
fore, it  were  hit  upon  by  accident  or  design,  its 
beauty  was  immediately  appreciated,  and  formed 
the  governing  principle  in  the  design  of  all  the 
English  cathedrals.  It  was  a  discovery  which 
has  added  more  to  the  sublimity  of  effect  which 
characterises  most  of  our  cathedrals  than  any 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  135 

Other  principle  introduced  during  the  Middle 
Ages." 

The  earliest  traces  of  Gothic  in  England  are 
found  in  Norman  buildings  which  were  in  course 
of  erection  during  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. Pointed  arches  were  introduced  at  Malms- 
bury  Abbey  (i  130)  and  at  Kirkstall  Abbey  (1160), 
and  almost  equally  early  examples  of  ribbed 
vaulting  are  found  at  Furness  Abbey,  Worcester 
Cathedral,  and  elsewhere.  The  ideas  were  no 
doubt  imported  from  France,  but  they  developed 
in  a  different  manner,  and  probably  owed  much 
of  their  development  to  English  architects.  It  is 
to  Canterbury,  however,  that  we  must  look  for 
the  first  application  of  Gothic  on  a  complete  and 
extensive  scale. 

Canterbury  at  this  early  date  had  already  seen 
much  history.  The  cathedral  had  been  rebuilt  in 
the  tenth  century  by  Odo,  but  the  archbishop 
appointed  by  William  the  Norman,  Lanfranc, 
destroyed  the  whole  of  the  old  building,  and 
rebuilt  it  on  a  larger  scale  in  1070.  But,  like  the 
old  Roman  emperors,  the  abbot-builders  of  those 
days  had  little  respect  for  their  predecessors'  work, 
and  within  twenty  years  it  was  again  pulled  down, 
and  rebuilt  by  Ernulph.  His  successor,  Conrad, 
built  it  on  a  more  extensive  scale,  including  in 
his  design  the  "glorious  choir  of  Conrad,"  the 
finest  work  that  had  been  executed  in  England 
at  that  date  (mo).  When  this  choir  was  again 
destroyed — by  fire  in  11 74 — the  monks  commis- 
sioned a  Frenchman,  William  of  Sens,  to  superin- 
tend the  work  of  restoration.  The  new  choir, 
designed  by  him,  affords  the  earliest  example  of 
the  Gothic  style  carried  out  in  an  important  Eng- 
lish building  and  in  a  complete  manner.  Four 


136        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


years  after  the  work  had  been  put  in  hand,  Wil- 
liam of  Sens  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  a  scaffold, 
and  his  place  was  taken  by  an  English  architect, 
who  carried  out  his  predecessor's  design  with 
little  variation.  The  new  choir,  thus  completed 
(1175-1184),  bears  some  resemblance  to  the 
cathedral  of  Sens,  and  is  distinctly  French  in  its 
plan  and  details,  with  an  apsidal  arrangement  of 
the  east  end,  and  a  stone  vaulted  roof. 

The  difference  between  the  new  and  the  old 
work — the  Gothic  of  11 75  and  the  Norman  of 
mo — is  very  marked,  and  may  be  studied  at  the 

point  in  the  arca- 
ding  where  the 
new  abuts  against 
the  old.  The  il- 
lustration shows 
the  plain,  cush- 
ion shaped  Nor- 
man capital  at 
this  point,  sup- 
porting on  the  one 
side  the  sturdy 
roundarchwith  its 
roughly  axed  zig- 
zag, oil  the  other 
the  Gothic  work 
,  .     .  with  its  chiselled 

Fig.  42.— Part  of  arcade,  Canterbury.      mouldings  and 

carved  ornament. 
The  great  progress  which  the  art  of  buildmg 
had  made  between  these  dates  is  emphasised  by 
Gervase,  a  contemporary  writer,  who  was  an  eye- 
witness of  the  progress  of  the  work.  The  pillars 
of  the  old  and  new  work,"  he  says,  were  alike  in 
form;  but  in  the  old  capitals  the  work  was  plain, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  137 

in  the  new  ones  exquisite  in  sculpture.  There  the 
arches  and  everything  else  was  plain,  or  sculptured 
with  an  axe  and  not  with  a  chisel ;  but  here,  almost 


throughout  is  appropriate  sculpture.  No  marble 
columns  were  there,  but  here  are  innumerable 
ones.    There,  there  was  a  ceiling  of  wood,  deco- 


138        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


rated  with  excellent  painting;  but  here  is  a  vault, 
beautifully  constructed  of  stone  and  light  tufa." 
And  all  this,  he  wisely  remarks,  will  be  better  un- 
derstood by  inspection  than  by  any  description. 

When  Gothic  had  once  been  used  throughout 
a  design  of  such  importance,  it  soon  became  gen- 
erally adopted.    In  1185  Hugh  of  Burgundy  was 


Fig.  44.— Plan  of  Salisbury  Cathedral. 


appointed  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  at  once  set  to 
work  on  his  cathedral,  the  east  end  of  which — 
St.  Hugh's  choir — he  rebuilt  in  pure  Gothic  style. 
But  in  various  parts  of  the  country  the  Norman 
round  arch  continued  in  use,  in  conjunction  with 
the  pointed  arch,  until  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  from  w^hich  period  the  commence- 
ment of  the  sway  of  Gothic  in  England  may  be 
said  to  date. 

Within  the  early  years  of  the  century  many 
cathedrals  w^ere  enlarged  in  the  style,  and  the 
period  gave  England,  among  others,  such  works 
as  the  magnificent  west  porch  of  Ely,  the  presby- 
tery of  Wmchester,  the  choir  of  Rochester,  Foun- 
tains Abbey,  and  the  choir  of  the  Temple  Church, 
London.  But  for  the  typical  church  of  this  date 
we  look  to   Salisbury  (i 220-1 258),  an  entirely 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.         1 39 


new  foundation,  which  was  designed  and  built 
throughout  in  the  Early  English,  or  thirteenth 
century,  style.  A  comparison  of  this  with  the 
plan  of  a  typical  French  cathedral  of  the  same 
date — Amiens  (1220-1275)  (p.  129) — brings  into 
relief  the  points  of  divergence  between  the  Eng- 
lish and  the  French  models: — 


Amiens 
Proportion     of     length  to 

breadth,  about  3  to  i. 
Semicircular   east  end  with 

chevet. 

Transepts  unimportant,  with 
very  slight  projection. 

Imposing  and  richly  decorated 
triple  west  porch. 

Lofty  vaulting  (140  feet  in 
height),  requiring  an  elabo- 
rate system  of  flying  but- 
tresses for  support. 

Circular  rose-window  in  the 
west  front,  and  elaborate 
tracery. 


Salisbury 
Proportion     of    length  to 

breadth,  about  6  to  i. 
Square  east  end. 

Double  transepts,  with  deep 

projection. 
West    porch    small,  almost 

mean. 

Low  vaulting  (84  feet),  with 
simple  exterior  treatment. 

Lancet-headed  windows,  with 
little  tracery. 


The  central  tower,  rising  above  the  crossing  of 
the  nave  and  transepts,  was  a  leading  feature  in 
the  English  cathedral  design,  as  at  Salisbury, 
where  the  spire  rises  to  the  height  of  424  feet, 
and  dominates  the  whole  design.  Such  an  effect 
was  impossible  in  the  French  building,  for  the 
lofty  vaulting  and  the  high-pitched  roof  gave 
such  height  to  the  structure  that  any  attempt  at 
a  dominating  feature  was  rendered  futile  by  rea- 
son of  the  immense  mass  of  the  building.  The 
central  spire  of  Amiens  appears  insignificant,  yet 
in  height  it  is  almost  equal  to  that  of  Salisbury, 
the  loftiest  of  our  spires;  while  the  north  and 
south  towers,  more  than  200  feet  high,  which 


I40        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


would  add  dignity  to  an  English  cathedral,  do 
not  rise  above  the  ridge  of  the  roof.  The  lofty 
French  cathedral,  in  fact,  was  designed  to  be  seen 
from  the  inside^  as  Raskin,  in  his  eulogy  of  French 
Gothic,  and  of  Amiens  cathedral  in  particular, 
admitted :  "  The  outside  of  a  French  cathedral. 


Fig.  45. — Durham  Cathedral. 


except  for  its  sculpture,  is  always  to  be  thought 
of  as  the  wrong  side  of  the  stuff,  in  which  you 
find  how  the  threads  go  that  produce  the  inside 
or  right-side  pattern."  In  England  the  designs 
are  less  ambitious,  but  there  is  no  ''wrong  side" 
to  them;  and  there  is  something  as  essentially 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  141 


English  about  the  mighty  pile  of  Durham,  with 
its  three  dominating  towers,  as  there  is  about 
Wells  with  its  charm  and  quiet  dignity,  or  Salis- 
bury and  its  close  of — 

Red  brick  and  ashlar  long  and  low, 
With  dormers  and  with  oriels  lit. 

We  must  not  overlook  one  fact,  however,  which 
further  helps  to  explain  the  emphatic  differences 
between  the  French  and  the  English  Gothic  ex- 
teriors. The  French  building  was  essentially  a 
cathedral  church,  the  seat  of  the  bishop,  who  rep- 
resented the  active  religious  Iffe  of  the  commu- 
nity:  it  was  desirable  that  his  seat,  his  cathedral 
church,  should  be  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  busy 
life  of  the  city,  just  as  would  be  the  case  with  an 
important  civic  building.  The  English  building, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  in  many  cases  not  prima- 
rily a  cathedral,  but  an  abbey  church,  attached  to 
a  monastery.  The  monks,  to  whom  the  abbey 
owed  its  foundation,  sought  for  their  habitation 
a  secluded  spot,  rather  than  the  busy  city,  so  that 
they  might  meditate  undisturbed  in  their  cloisters, 
pray  in  their  church,  fish  perhaps  in  their  stream. 
As  years  went  on,  the  old  order  changed;  but  the 
cathedrals  of  England,  in  many  of  their  features, 
have  always  retained  the  impress  of  these  earlier 
days. 

The  abbey  of  Westminster  (1245-1271),  whose 
originally  quiet  surroundings  have  now  given 
place  to  the  bustle  of  London  life,  presents  a 
curious  blending  of  the  French  and  English  plans. 
The  nave,  and  deep,  square  transepts,  are  as 
thoroughly  English  in  arrangement  and  detail  as 
the  east  end,  with  its  chevet  and  apsidal  chapels, 
is  French.    The  unusual  height  of  the  vaulting — 


142        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


loo  feet — and  the  consequent  development  of  the 
flying  buttress,  are  also  suggestive  of  French  in- 
fluence. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century 
the  desire  for  additional  richness  and  ornamenta- 


FiG.  46.— Geometrical  tracery.       geometrical  designs 

soon  gave  place  to 
lines  of  double  curvature,  or  flowing  tracery, which 
the  English  architects  treated  with  great  skill,  and 
which  became  the  characteristic  feature  of  the 
Decorated  style  during  the  fourteenth  century, 
culminating  magnificently  in  such  works  as  the 
west  window  of  York  Minster  and  the  east  win- 
dow of  Carlisle  Cathedral. 

Hand  in  hand  with  the  increasing  importance 
of  the  window  openings  we  find,  as  in  France, 
considerable  development  in  the  art  of  decorative 
glass-staining.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  ma- 
jority of  the  great  church  windows  of  England 
were  filled  with  richly  coloured  stained  glass,  but 
the  iconoclasts  of  the  seventeenth  century  did 
their  work  only  too  thoroughly.  The  glass  was 
too  ^Mdolatrous  "  for  the  taste  of  the  Puritans, 


tion  brought  about  a 
gradual  change  in  the 
character  of  the  archi- 
tecture. This  was 
most  marked  in  the 
treatment  of  the  win- 
dow openings,  which 
were  increased  in  size 
and  divided  into  sep- 
arate lights  by  mul- 
lions,  formed  in  the  up- 
per part  into  geomet- 
rical tracery.  These 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  143 


and  met  with  no  quarter  at  their  hands.  A  para- 
graph from  the  "  Petition  of  the  Weamen  of  Mid- 
dlesex/' in  1641,  which  bore  12,000  signatures, 
helps  to  explain  the  extraordinary  disappearance 
of  most  of  the  glass  from  our  English  churches. 

We  desire,"  it  says,  "  that  prophane  glasse  win- 
dows whose  super- 
stitious paint  makes 
many  idolaters  may 
be  humbled  and 
dashed  in  pieces 
against  the  ground; 
for  our  conscious 
tels  us  that  they 
are  diabolicall  and 
the  father  of  Dark- 
nesse  was  the  in- 
ventor of  them,  be- 
ing the  chief  Patron 
to  damnable  pride." 

The  change  from 
the  graceful  win- 
dow forms  of  the 
Decorated  to  the 
stiff  rectangular 
lines  of  the  Per- 
pendicular period 
seems  almost  like  a  reaction.  Gothic  builders  at 
the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  were  seized 
with  the  desire  to  emphasise  in  every  possible 
way  the  vertical  lines  of  the  design,  so  that  the 
"  perpendicular  "  line  became  the  dominating  fea- 
ture of  every  detail.  The  whole  wall  surface,  in- 
side and  out,  was  divided  into  a  series  of  rectan- 
gular panels,  and  as  the  enormous  windows  occu- 
pied the  whole  space  at  the  east  and  west  ends, 


Fig.  47. — Perpendicular  window. 


144         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


as  well  as  the  wall  spaces  between  the  buttresses, 
they  were  treated  as  a  series  of  glazed  panels. 
The  exterior  of  King  Henry  VIL's  Chapel  at 
Westminster  Abbey  is  an  elaborate  example  of 
this  method  of  treatment.  Simultaneously  with 
this  was  developed  the  beautiful,  and  essentially 
English,  form  of  vaulting  known  as  fan-tracery, 
occurring  in  the  ceilings  of  King  Henry  VH.'s 
Chapel,  Westminster  ;  S.  George's  Chapel,  Wind- 
sor ;  and  the  chapel  of  King's  College,  Cam- 
bridge,— 

That  branching  roof 
Self-poised,  and  scooped  into  a  thousand  cells, 
Where  light  and  shade  repose,  where  music  dwells 
Lingering  -  and  wandering  on  as  loth  to  die. 

The  chapter-house,  which  forms  a  graceful  ad- 
junct to  many  of  England's  cathedrals,  is  another 
feature  peculiar  to  the  architecture  of  that  coun- 
try. In  Norman  times  this  was  rectangular  in 
form,  as  at  Bristol  (1155);  but  shortly  after  this 
date  the  circular  or  polygonal  plan,  with  a  central 
column,  came  into  use.  The  first  to  adopt  this 
form  was  the  architect  of  the  chapter-house  at 
Worcester,  a  building  which  became  the  recognised 
type  for  later  designs  at  Lincoln  (1225),  Salisbury, 
Westminster  (1250),  and  Wells  (1300).  In  each  of 
these  a  central  column  gives  the  necessary  support 
to  the  vaulting  of  the  roof.  At  York  the  central 
pillar  has  been  dispensed  with,  and  the  Gothic 
ceiling  is  carried  entirely  upon  the  walls  of  the 
octagon.  The  design  gains  immeasurably  by  the 
removal  of  this  defect,  and  the  beautiful  work 
almost  justifies  the  builder's  inscription  : — 


Ut  Rosa  flos  florum, 

Sic  Domus  ista  Domorum. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  145 


The  ceiling,  in  the  form  of  a  dome,  is  beautiful  in 
detail,  but  executed  in  wood. 

Cathedral  building  did  not  monopolise  the  at- 
tention of  English  architects,  as  it  did  in  France. 
A  most  complete  record  of  the  progress  of  Gothic 
is  to  be  found  in  the  beautiful  parish  churches 
which  are  scattered  over  all  parts  of  England. 
Many  of  these  show  a  beauty  and  variety  of  de- 
tail equal  to  the  foremost  of  the  cathedrals.  All 
periods  are  represented,  but  the  churches  of  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  abound  with 
the  finest  examples.  The  typical  English  Church 
plan  has  a  nave  with  side  aisles  and  a  clerestory, 
a  long,  narrow  chancel  with  square  east  end,  west 
tower,  and  south  doorway.  The  most  important 
churches,  as  those  of  Boston,  Grantham,  Coventry, 
etc.,  almost  rivalled  the  cathedrals  in  dimensions, 
and  frequently  had  a  south  door  enriched  with 
a  vaulted  porch,  with  a  library  or  other  rooms 
over  it. 

Except  on  a  small  scale,  as  in  these  porches, 
or  in  isolated  instances,  vaulted  ceilings  were  not 
found  in  the  parish  churches.  Instead  of  them  we 
find  open  timber  roofs,  treated  with  remarkable 
ingenuity,  and  often  with  great  elaboration.  By 
means  of  a  skilful  development  of  roof-truss  the 
outward  thrust  of  the  ceiling  against  the  walls  was 
reduced  to  a  minimum;  the  roof  was  thus  easily 
carried  and  the  exterior  design  was  not  hampered 
by  structural  difficulties.  The  trusses  and  brackets 
were  richly  moulded,  and  the  ceiling  spaces  treated 
in  a  highly  decorative  manner.  Fine  examples  of 
these  roofs  are  found  in  the  Perpendicular  churches 
of  Norfolk,  in  the  halls  of  many  of  the  old  castles 
and  of  the  colleges  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
notably  that  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  Largest 

IQ 


146         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


and  most  famous  of  all  is  the  great  roof  of  West- 
minster Hall,  London  (1397),  covering  a  space 
239  feet  in  length  by  68  feet  in  width. 

There  are  few  fields  of  study  more  full  of  in- 
terest than  these  old  parish  churches.  Much  his- 
tory, that  would  oth- 
erwise have  been  lost, 
may  be  found  written 
upon  the  walls  by 
those  who  have  eyes 
to  see  it ;  nor  is  more 
than  a  slight  acquaint- 
ance with  the  charac- 
teristic features  of 
each  period  necessary 
to  enable  the  student 
to  read  the  history 
and  to  assign  a  date 
to  the  construction  of 
the  work.  In  distinguishing  the  periods,  all 
mouldings  and  ornaments  are  of  very  great  value. 
Mouldings  of  the  thirteenth  century  were  seldom 
decorated  with  any  ornament  other  than  the  dog- 
tooth, which  took  the  place  of  the 
axed  zig-zag  of  the  Normans.  The 
bold,  undercut  mouldings  gave  strong 
effects  of  light  and  shade,  and  re- 
quired little  enrichment  ;  the  carved 
foliage  was  crisp,  bulbous,  treated 
conventionally,  and  curved  boldly 
outwards,  appearing  to  grow  out  of 
the  surface.  The  mouldings  of  the 
Decorated  period  were  less  defined, 
and  were  seldom  undercut ;  the  foliage  was  nat- 
uralistic, representing  oak  and  vine  leaves,  or  sea- 
weed, and  the  ball  -  flower  supplanted  the  dog- 


FiG.  48. — Early  English  capital. 


Fig.  49. 
Ball-flower 
ornament. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  147 


tooth  ornament.  In  Perpendicular  work  the 
Tudor -rose,  portcullis,  and  fleur-de-lys  appear 
as  ornaments  upon  richly  panelled  wall  sur- 
faces ;  mouldings  were  wide  and  shallow,  and  of 
secondary  importance.  In  Norfolk  and  Suffolk 
the  panels  on  the  exterior  wall  surfaces  were 
frequently  filled  in  with  flint  work.  Wooden 
screens  with  elaborate  tracery  shut  off  the  chan- 
cel. 

In  striking  contrast  to  later  times  is  the  almost 
entire  absence  of  municipal  buildings  throughout 
the  four  centuries  succeeding  the  Norman  con- 
quest ;  the  king,  the  baron,  and  the  bishop  were 
the  estates  of  the  realm  ;  the  people  were  no- 
where," and  neither  municipalities  nor  guilds 
could  assert  an  independent  existence. 

In  addition  to  the  buildings  mentioned  above, 
the  following  are  good  examples  of  the  respective 
styles : — 

Early  Engl:sh. 

Worcester  Cathedral     .       .       .  Choir. 
Fountain  Abbey. 

York  Cathedral     ....  Transepts. 
Ely  Cathedral       ....  Choir. 
St.  Saviour's  Church,  Southwark. 
Peterborough  Cathedral        .       .    West  Front. 
Glasgow  Cathedral. 
Boxgrove  Priory,  Sussex. 

Decorated. 

Ely  Cathedral       ....    Lady  Chapel  and 

Lantern. 

York  Cathedral     ....  Nave. 
Merton  College  Chapel,  Oxford. 

Tintern  Abbey      .        .       .        .    Choir  and  Tran- 
septs. 

Ripon  Cathedral    ....    East  End, 
Lichfield  Cathedral.         .  • 


148        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Perpendicular. 

Gloucester  Cathedral     .       .       .    Choir  and  West 

Front. 

Beauchamp  Chapel,  Warwick. 
Bath  Abbey. 
Manchester  Cathedral. 

Winchester  Cathedral   .       .       .    West  Front. 
Magdalen  College,  Oxford. 

Italy. — Gothic  architecture,from  causes  which 
are  not  far  to  seek,  never  took  deep  root  in  Italy. 
In  the  first  place,  the  style  was  utterly  unsuited 
to  the  brilliant  climate  of  the  country.  The  Italian 
regarded  his  church  as  a  cool  resort  from  the 
eternal  glare  of  the  sun  ;  and  the  small  windows 
of  the  basilica,  with  its  grateful  gloom,  were  more 
to  his  liking  than  the  walls  of  glass "  of  the 
style  in  vogue  amongst  his  neighbours.  Again, 
from  the  time  of  the  Roman  Empire,  classical 
tradition  had  been  very  strong  throughout  the 
country,  and  had  permeated  its  architecture.  The 
Italian  was  familiar  with,  and  justly  proud  of, 
the  classical  forms  of  Rome,  upon  which  the 
architecture  of  Western  Europe  had  been  modelled. 
The  works  of  his  ancestors,  the  Romans,  had  been 
marked  by  breadth,  solidity,  simplicity  of  parts, 
and  by  emphatic  treatment  of  horizontal  lines; 
it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  narrow, 
lofty  aisles,  the  multiplicity  of  vertical  lines  and 
mouldings,  and  the  minuteness  of  detail  of  the 
Gothic  builders  should  find  favour  with  him. 
Moreover,  the  scientific  principles  of  Gothic  con- 
struction did  not  appeal  to  him,  for  the  mediaeval 
Italian  was  never  a  constructive  designer.  He 
relied  for  interior  effect  upon  large  unbroken  wall 
surfaces,  w^hich  were  decorated  with  frescoes  or 
mosaics,  or  veneered  with  rich  and  rare  marbles, 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  149 


When  Gothic  was  introduced,  therefore,  it  was 
received  as  a  foreign  or  imported  style,  which  was 
grafted  upon  the  older  forms,  with  the  result  that 
ItaHan  Gothic  never  divested  itself  of  the  influence 
of  Roman  traditions.  It  owed  its  introduction  to 
the  mendicant  monks,  whose  travels  brought  them 
into  contact  with  the  outer  civilisation.  Many 
of  the  earliest  and  largest  churches  were  built 
by  these  monks — Dominicans  or  pTanciscans.  S. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  the  founder  of  the  Franciscans, 
died  in  1226,  and  the  church  which  enshrined  his 
body  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  examples 
of  Italian  Gothic,  as  well  as  one  of  the  earliest. 
Although  designed  by  a  German  architect,  the 
church  of  S.  Francesco  at  Assisi  (i 228-1253) 
shows  strong  Italian  influence  in  its  composition. 
Internally  the  architecture  is  quite  subordinate  to 
the  decorative  paintings,  for  which  the  wall  spaces 
were  intended,  and  with  which  they  have  been 
filled.  The  church  is  built  in  two  stories :  in  the 
lower  church  the  vaulting  over  the  high  altar  is 
enriched  with  frescoes  by  Giotto  ;  so  small,  how- 
ever, are  the  window-openings,  and  so  dim  the 
light,  that  it  is  not  possible  to  fully  appreciate  the 
detail  of  the  paintings,  unless  it  be  for  an  hour  or 
two  on  the  brightest  days. 

S.  Francesco  contains  the  shrine  of  S.  Francis. 
His  followers,  the  Franciscans,  and  the  Dominican 
brotherhood  (founded  1216),  were  responsible  for 
many  of  the  earliest  and  most  important  Gothic 
churches,  including  S.  Francesco  at  Bologna,  the 
Church  of  the  Frari  at  Venice,  S.  Anastasia  at 
Verona,  S.  Maria  Novella  at  Florence,  and  S. 
Maria  sopra  Minerva  (1280),  the  only  important 
Gothic  church  in  Rome. 

The  most  successful  examples  of  the  style  in 


150        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Italy  are  the  cathedrals,  built  upon  an  imposing 
scale,  and  showing,  in  almost  every  instance,  the 
peculiarities  of  the  Italian  treatment  of  Gothic: — 
Milan  (1385-1418),  the  largest  of  all  mediaeval 
churches  except  Seville;  Siena  (1243),  Orvieto 
(1290),  Florence  (1294),  Ferrara,  and  the  church 
of  S.  Petronio,  Bologna  (1390),  projected  upon 
a  vaster  scale  than  the  cathedral  of  Milan,  but 
never  completed.  In  some  of  these  designs  there 
is  little,  with  the  exception  of  the  details,  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  earlier  Romanesque  build- 
ings. At  Siena  and  Orvieto  the  round  arch  is 
freely  used,  while  a  striking  interior  effect  is 
gained  by  the  use  of  alternate  bands  of  black  and 
white  marbles.  The  facade  in  each  case  is  a 
rich  composition  of  coloured  marbles,  with  three 
gables,  and  a  deeply  recessed  triple  porch,  en- 
riched, at  Orvieto,  with  gorgeous  mosaics.  The 
love  of  the  Italians  for  colour  decoration  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  brilliancy  of  stained  glass  finds  ex- 
pression at  Orvieto,  where  small  window-openings 
are  filled  with  slabs  of  rich  translucent  alabaster. 

The  cathedral  of  Florence,  begun  in  1294  by 
Arnolfo  del  Cambio,  was  not  completed  until  the 
fifteenth  century,  when  the  dome  was  added  by 
Brunelleschi.  Here  everything  is  on  a  colossal 
scale;  but  the  architect  made  the  mistake  of 
thinking  that  largeness  of  parts  would  invest  the 
whole  with  dignity  and  grandeur.  The  vast  nave, 
which,  in  a  French  design  of  similar  importance, 
would  have  been  subdivided  into  ten  or  twelve 
bays,  is  here  spanned  by  four  great  arches,  which 
are  left  bare,  with  hardly  a  moulding  or  a  vestige 
of  detail  to  give  scale  to  the  composition.  The 
walls  above  are  bare  and  colourless,  and  cannot 
fail  to  disappoint.    Of  the  dome  we  shall  speak 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  151 


later,  when  dealing  with  the  architecture  of  the 
Renaissance. 

In  direct  contrast  to  the  Duomo  at  Florence 
is  the  remarkable  cathedral  at  Milan,  bewildering 
in  the  multiplicity  of  its  parts  and  the  elaboration 
of  its  detail.  The  exterior  design  is  lost  in  a  per- 
fect forest  of  pinnacles,  decorated  with  rich  and 
intricate  tracery, — 

A  mount  of  marble,  a  hundred  spires! 

In  the  interior  a  belt  of  niches,  filled  with  statuary, 
crowns  the  nave-piers,  in  place  of  the  usual  cap- 
itals. The  ceiling  is  painted  in  imitation  of  elab- 
orate fan-tracery. 

Milan  Cathedral  (1385-1418)  was  one  of  the 
latest  of  the  important  Gothic  buildings  erected 
in  Italy,  but  the  style  was  still  regarded  as  a 
foreign  importation,  and  had  not  become,  in  any 
sense,  a  national  one.  In  proof  of  this  we  find, 
within  a  few  miles  of  Milan,  a  building  contempo- 
rary with  the  cathedral,  yet  dissimilar  in  every 
feature,  and  showing  hardly  a  trace  of  Gothic  in- 
fluence. The  famous  Carthusian  monastery,  or 
Certosa,  at  Pavia,  begun  in  1396,  was  built  en- 
tirely of  brick  and  terra-cotta.  Here  the  vaulting 
is  Gothic,  but  in  other  respects  the  external  design, 
with  its  picturesquely  grouped  turrets,  round 
arches,  and  arcaded  galleries,  is  thoroughly  Ro- 
manesque in  character.  The  marble  fagade  is  a 
Renaissance  addition. 

The  Italians,  as  we  have  seen,  were  great  dec- 
orators rather  than  constructors,  and  Gothic  art 
found  natural  expression  in  small  decorative  works 
such  as  porches  and  tombs,  or  in  secular  monu- 
ments. The  porch  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore  at  Ber- 
gamo is  a  characteristic  specimen  of  this  work— 


152        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


fascinating  in  its  clothing  of  Gothic  detail,  yet 
built  up  in  so  unscientific  a  manner  as  to  rely  for 
security  upon  a  system  of  iron  ties  and  clamps. 
And  here  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  use  of  iron 
tie-rods,  which  was  almost  universal  in  Italy,  indi- 
cates that  the  builders  did  not  appreciate  the  true 
principles  of  thrust  and  counter-thrust,  which 
were  the  essence  of  Gothic  construction.  No 
doubt  this  lack  of  constructive  genius  hampered 
them  in  their  more  important  designs,  so  that  we 
must  look  to  decorative  works,  such  as  the  tombs 
of  the  Scaligers  at  Verona,  for  the  purest  expres- 
sion of  Gothic  feeling.  Giotto's  campanile,  ad- 
joining the  cathedral  at  Florence,  is  another 
beautiful  example  of  Italian  decorative  Gothic. 
The  smooth  wall  surfaces  are  entirely  faced  with 
panelling  of  coloured  marbles,  much  of  it  deli- 
cately sculptured  in  low  relief,  and  the  wmdows 
are  unsurpassed  for  their  exquisite  detail  and 
grace;  but  there  is  no  Gothic  back-bone  in  the 
design. 

The  civic  life  of  the  great  towns  in  Italy  is 
reflected  in  their  municipal  buildings.  Cities, 
forming  independent  principalities,  were  constant- 
ly at  war  with  one  another,  or  with  themselves, 
and  the  town-hall  of  necessity  partook  of  the 
character  of  a  fortress.  Elegance  was  sacrificed 
to  security,  and  few  features  were  introduced, 
save  the  lofty  tower  and  the  frowning  cornice, 
each  of  which  fulfilled  a  definite  purpose.  In 
Venice  alone,  all-powerful,  and  therefore  peace- 
ful, the  architect  was  able  to  give  full  play  to  his 
fancy,  and  produced  examples  of  domestic  Gothic 
art  unrivalled  in  any  country  in  Europe.  Carry- 
ing on  an  extensive  trade  with  Byzantium  and 
with  many  Eastern  ports,  Venice  developed  a 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


153 


unique  style  in  which  much  of  the  Byzantine  grace 
and  richness  were  blended  with  the  Gothic  details 
of  the  West,  and  which  found  its  highest  expres- 
sion in  the  remarkable  Doges'  Palace  (1354)  ad- 
joining the  church  of  S.  Mark,  ''the  centre  of  the 
most  beautiful  archi- 
tectural group  that 
adorns  any  city  of  Eu- 
rope or  of  the  world." 
The  design,  with  its 
double  story  of  arcades 
and  traceried  arches, 
is  familiar,  from  illus- 
trations and  photo- 
graphs, to  readers  in 
all  parts  of  the  world, 
and  has  received  added 
fame  from  the  loving 
pen  of  Ruskin,  to  whom 
it  represented  "a  mod- 
el of  all  perfection." 
*'  The  front  of  the 
Doges'  Palace,"  he 
writes,  "  is  the  purest 
and  most  chaste  model 
that  I  can  name  (but 
one)  of  the  fit  applica- 
tion of  colour  to  public 
buildings.  The  sculp- 
ture and  mouldings  are 
all  white;  but  the  wall 
surface  is  chequered  with  marble  blocks  of  pale 
rose,  the  chequers  being  in  no  wise  harmonised, 
or  fitted  to  the  forms  of  the  windows;  but  look- 
ing as  if  the  surface  had  been  completed  first, 
and  the  windows  cut  out  of  it.  .  .  .  It  would  be 


Fig.  50. 
Fagade  of  Doges'  Palace. 


154        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


impossible,  I  believe,  to  invent  a  more  magnifi- 
cent arrangement  of  all  that  is  in  building  most 
dignified  and  most  fair." 

Many  choice  examples  of  Venetian  Gothic  are 
found  along  the  banks  of  the  Canal,  none  more 
beautiful  than  the  refined  and  ornate  Ca  d'Oro, 
and  the  Pisani  and  Foscari  Palaces. 

Germany. — In  Germany  Gothic  architecture 
v^as  borrowed  directly  from  France.  Its  develop- 
ment was  irregular,  and  the  style,  with  one  or 
two  exceptions,  produced  nothing  to  equal  the 
fine  Romanesque  churches  of  the  earlier  centuries. 
For  many  years  after  its  introduction  it  was  merely 
grafted  upon  the  Romanesque  stem, — a  fusion  of 
styles  which  is  seen  in  Magdeburg  Cathedral  (be- 
gun 1210),  constructed  on  the  massive  lines  of 
the  twelfth-century  churches,  and  clothed  with 
the  more  graceful  Gothic  details.  A  little  later, 
in  the  church  of  S.  Elizabeth  at  Marburg  (1250), 
we  find  an  essentially  German  type  of  building, 
the  '^hall-church,"  in  which  the  clerestory  of  the 
nave  disappears,  and  the  side  aisles  are  raised  to 
the  same  height  as  the  nave. 

Strasburg  Cathedral,  designed  upon  French 
principles,  has  a  rich  facade,  and  a  large  rose- 
window  in  the  west  gable.  The  magnificent 
cathedral  at  Cologne,  finest  of  all,  is  an  enlarged 
edition  of  a  French  plan,  differing  little  from  that 
of  Amiens,  but  with  double  aisles  to  the  nave. 
The  work  of  building  this  cathedral  was  carried 
on  very  slowly.  Begun  in  1248,  the  choir  was 
completed  in  1322,  and  the  remaining  works,  after 
being  proceeded  with  intermittently,  were  entirely 
suspended  until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century.    The  nave,  aisle,  and  transepts  were  com- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  155 


pleted,  from  the  original  designs,  in  1848,  and  in 
1863  the  church  was  complete  in  all  respects,  with 
the  exception  of  the  great  Western  spires,  500  feet 
high,  which  were  added  in  1880.  The  style  is 
uniform  throughout,  but  the  later  details  lack  the 
vigour  of  thirteenth-century  Gothic.  Cologne  is 
the  largest  of  all  Gothic  cathedrals,  with  the  single 
exception  of  Seville. 

Fine  examples  of  fifteenth-century  Gothic  are 
found  among  the  German  town-halls. 

Belgium,  Spain,  etc. — In  Belgium  the  most 
important  church  of  the  period  was  the  cathedral 
at  Antwerp  (1360),  with  a  remarkable  plan,  show- 
ing three  aisles  upon  each  side  of  the  nave,  and  a 
total  width  of  160  feet,  equal  to  one-half  the  entire 
length  of  the  building.  The  florid  west  front 
(fifteenth  century)  is  a  rich  example  of  the  later 
Flemish  treatment.  Other  cathedrals  of  interest 
are  found  at  Brussels,  Ghent,  Liege,  and  Louvain, 
all  of  which  show  the  influence  of  France.  It  was 
in  the  municipal  buildings,  however,  that  the  new 
style  became  more  thoroughly  nationalised.  Bel- 
gium has  some  famous  examples  of  trade-halls 
and  town-halls,  erected  by  the  burghers  during 
the  most  prosperous  period  of  their  cities'  history. 
The  cloth-halls  at  Ypres  and  Ghent,  and  the 
town-halls  of  Brussels,  Ghent,  Bruges,  and  Lou- 
vain are  notable  examples.  The  rich  fagades  are 
treated  somewhat  floridly  in  the  manner  of  the 
fifteenth-century  Gothic,  and  are  surmounted  by  a 
steep  roof,  broken  by  several  stories  of  dormer 
windows.  A  lofty  tower  generally  forms  part  of 
the  design. 

In  Spain  the  earliest  Gothic  churches  were  the 
cathedrals  of  Burgos  (1220)  and  Toledo  (1227), 


156        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


which  both  show  the  influence  of  the  French 
cathedral  at  Bourges.  At  Barcelona  and  Gerona 
internal  buttresses  take  the  thrust  of  the  vaults, 
as  they  do  at  Albi  in  France.  Seville  Cathedral 
(1401-1520),  the  largest  of  all  mediaeval  churches, 
was  built  upon  the  site  of  a  Moorish  mosque 
of  similar  dimensions,  a  fact  which  explains  the 
peculiarity  of  its  plan — a  huge  rectangle,  with 
square  east  end,  measuring  415  feet  by  298  feet, 
and  covering  an  area  of  12,400  feet. 

The  later  works  in  Spain  are  marked  by  great 
elaboration  of  detail.  Possibly  the  decorative 
influence  of  the  Moors  (expelled  in  1492)  con- 
tributed to  this,  and  accounted  for  such  profusion 
of  ornament  as  is  found  in  the  sepulchral  church 
of  San  Juan  de  los  Reyes  at  Toledo,  and  in  many 
additions  to  the  churches  and  cathedrals  through- 
out the  country. 


VIII. 

RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE, 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen  that 
classical  tradition — derived  from  the  days  of  the 
Roman  empire — was  too  strong  in  Italy  to  allow 
the  principles  of  Gothic  to  be  received  there  with 
any  degree  of  favour.  The  Italian  never  ceased 
to  look  upon  the  style  as  a  foreign  or  imported 
one.  The  very  name  with  which  they  branded  it, 
"  Gothic,"  which  has  now  lost  its  original  meaning, 
was  intended  to  distinguish  the  "  barbarous  "  style 
from  their  own  national  architecture.    When  the 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  157 


Gothic  style  was  used,  it  was  so  modified  by  the 
Italian  architect  that  many  of  its  characteristic 
features  quite  disappeared.  As  an  example,  the 
great  cathedral  at  Florence  was  noted,  in  which 
the  nave  was  divided  into  four  colossal  bays,  each 
with  a  span  of  almost  60  feet.  The  designer  did 
not  realise  that  these  classical  ideas  of  spacious- 
ness and  largeness  of  parts  were  fatal  when  ap- 
plied to  Gothic  designs. 

Yet  Arnolfo  del  Cambio,  the  architect  of  the 
cathedral  of  Florence,  was  one  of  the  greatest 
builders  of  the  Middle  Ages.  No  Italian  archi- 
tect has  enjoyed  the  proud  privilege  of  stamping 
his  own  individuality  more  strongly  on  his  native 
city  than  Arnolfo.  When  we  take  our  stand  upon 
the  hill  of  Samminiato,  the  Florence  at  our  feet 
owes  her  physiognomy  in  a  great  measure  to  this 
man.  The  tall  tower  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  the 
bulk  of  the  Duomo,  and  the  long,  oblong  mass  of 
S.  Croce,  are  all  his.  Giotto's  campanile,  Brunel- 
leschi's  cupola  on  the  dome,  and  the  church  of 
Orsammichele,  though  not  designed  by  him,  are 
all  placed  where  he  had  planned."* 

Arnolfo's  plan  of  the  cathedral  embraced  a 
huge  dome — a  classical  feature — to  be  carried 
upon  an  octagon,  143  feet  in  diameter  ;  but  he 
died  before  the  dome,  as  he  had  designed  it,  could 
be  constructed,  and  he  left  behind  him  no  infor- 
mation as  to  the  method  he  had  intended  to  adopt 
for  covering  the  octagon.  Nothing  further  was 
done  until,  in  1417,  as  the  result  of  a  public  com- 
petition, the  task  of  constructing  the  dome  was 
intrusted  to  a  young  competitor  named  Brunel- 
leschi.    Now,  the  story  of  Brunelleschi  is  the 


*  Symonds,  ''The  Renaissance  in  Italy." 


158        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Story  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  Renaissance 
architecture  in  Italy. 

The  Renaissance,  or  revival  of  classical  forms 
in  art  and  literature,  was  the  result  of  a  great 
intellectual  movement  which  manifested  itself  in 
Italy  during  the  fourteenth  century,  and  thence 
spread  over  the  whole  of  Western  Europe.  Many 
causes  contributed  to  the  revival : — the  fashion, 
which  became  general,  of  reading  and  studying 
the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin  authors  ;  the  existence, 
in  Italy,  of  old  classical  monuments,  from  which 
the  styles  and  details  might  be  studied ;  the 
inherited  classical  tradition ;  perhaps,  too,  the 
asceticism  of  the  Middle  Ages,  against  which 
the  freedom  of  the  Renaissance  was  a  reaction. 
Added  to  this,  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture, 
which  builders  were  endeavouring  to  mtroduce 
into  Italy,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  unpopular,  and 
uusuitable  to  the  brilliant  Italian  climate. 

These  conditions  gave  Brunelleschi  his  oppor- 
tunity. At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  had  unsuccess- 
fully competed  with  Ghiberti  for  the  great  bronze 
doors  of  the  Baptistery.  Having  left  Florence 
after  this,  with  his  friend  Donatello,  he  made  his 
way  to  Rome,  where  he  worked  as  a  goldsmith, 
giving  all  his  spare  time  to  the  study  of  the 
architecture  of  the  old  Roman  empire,  in  an 
endeavour  to  grasp  the  true  principles  of  the 
classical  style.  On  his  return  to  Florence  his 
mind  was  full  of  the  great  scheme  for  completing 
the  Dnomo,  which,  though  it  had  been  in  course 
of  erection  for  more  than  no  years,  was  still 
unfinished.  Amongst  those  in  authority  there 
was  much  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  best 
manner  of  covering  the  great  octagon  and  the 
apses.    It  was  not,  as  we  have  said,  until  141 7 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


that  the  council  was  held  in  Florence  which 
definitely  settled  this  great  question,  when  the  com- 
petitors submitted  some  extraordinary  schemes. 
One  advised  that  the  dome  should  be  supported 
by  a  central  pillar ;  another  suggestion,  which 
seemed  to  find  favour,  was  that  the  space  over 
which  the  dome  was  to  be  built  should  be  covered 
with  a  huge  mound  of  earth.  Coins  were  to  be 
mixed  with  the  earth,  so  that  the  people — after 
the  dome  was  complete — might  be  willmg  to 
remove  the  soil  from  the  site  for  the  sake  of  the 
money  they  would  find  in  it !  Brunelleschi  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  only  architect  who  felt 
confident  of  being  able  to  construct  the  dome 
without  the  use  of  internal  supports,  and  the  work 
was  accordingly  intrusted  to  him  ;  but  so  little 
confidence  had  the  authorities  in  him  that  they 
appointed  Ghiberti — his  successful  rival  of  the 
bronze  doors,  who  knew  nothing  of  architectural 
construction — to  be  his  colleague.  Ghiberti  was 
quite  unfitted  for  the  task,  and  Brunelleschi  made 
many  unsuccessful  attempts  to  get  rid  of  his 
partner.  Vasari  amusingly  describes  his  last, 
successful  ruse  : 

"One  morning,"  he  says,  "  Filippo  [that  is, 
Brunelleschi],  instead  of  appearing  at  work, 
stayed  in  bed,  and  calling  for  hot  fomentations, 
pretended  to  have  a  severe  pain  in  his  side. 
When  the  workmen  heard  of  this,  while  they 
waited  to  know  what  they  were  to  do  that  day, 
they  asked  Ghiberti  what  was  the  next  thing  ? 
He  answered  that  it  was  Filippo  who  arranged  all 
that,  and  that  they  must  wait  for  him.  '  But  do 
you  not  know  his  mind?'  they  asked.  'Yes,' 
said  Ghiberti,  '  but  I  will  do  nothing  without 
him.'    And  this  he  said  to  cover  himself ;  for  not 


l6o        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


having  seen  Filippo's  model,  and  never  having 
asked  of  him  how  he  meant  to  conduct  the  work 
(for  fear  of  appearing  ignorant),  he  was  now 
obliged  to  remain  inactive.  This  lasted  two  days, 
and  the  workmen  at  last  betook  themselves  to  the 
Commissioners  who  provided  the  materials,  asking 
what  they  were  to  do.  'You  have  Ghiberti,'  was 
the  reply;  Met  him  exert  himself  a  little.'  The 
Commissioners  then  went  to  see  Filippo,  and 
having  condoled  with  him  in  his  illness,  told  him 
of  the  harm  which  his  absence  was  causing  to  the 
work.  '  Is  not  Ghiberti  there  ?'  he  asked  passion- 
ately. '  Why  does  not  he  do  something?'  'He 
does  not  wish  to  do  anything  without  you.'  '  I 
could  do  very  well  without  him,'  said  Filippo. 
The  hint  was  not  taken,  however,  for  Ghiberti 
continued  to  draw  his  salary,  without  doing  any 
work,  although  his  removal  was  promised. 

"  Filippo  then  tried  another  expedient.  He 
presented  himself  before  the  Commissioners,  and 
addressed  them  as  follows  :  'The  sickness,  which 
has  now  passed,'  he  said,  '  might  have  taken  away 
my  life,  and  stopped  this  work  :  therefore  if  it 
ever  happened  that  I  got  ill  again,  or  Ghiberti — 
whom  God  preserve ! — it  would  be  better  that 
one  or  the  other  should  continue  his  own  work: 
therefore  I  have  concluded  that,  as  your  excellen- 
cies have  divided  the  salary,  it  would  be  as  well 
to  divide  the  labour,  that  each  of  us,  being  thus 
stimulated  to  show  how  much  he  knows,  may  be 
honourable  and  useful  to  the  Republic.  There 
are  two  difficult  things  to  be  done — the  bridges 
upon  which  the  masons  must  stand  and  the  chain 
which  is  to  bind  together  the  eight  sides  of  the 
cupola.  Let  Ghiberti  take  one  of  them,  and  I 
will  take  the  other,  that  no  more  time  be  lost/  " 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  l6l 

This  arrangement  settled  Ghiberti.  He  took 
in  hand  the  chain,  but  could  make  nothing  of  it, 
and  was  at  last  removed  from  the  works. 

Great  difficulties  were  experienced  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  dome,  and  the  work  was  frequent- 
ly delayed  in  progress,  so  that,  in  the  words  of  an 
old  writer,  the  vain  Florentines  considered  that 
"the  heavens  were  jealous  of  their  dome,  which 
bade  fair  to  rival  the  beauty  of  the  blue  ethereal 
vault  itself."  It  was  completed  in  1434,  the  lan- 
tern being  added  in  1462,  after  Brunelleschi's 
death. 

While  the  dome  was  in  hand  Brunelleschi 
carried  out  several  smaller  works  in  Florence, 
which  had  considerable  influence  with  his  con- 
temporaries, and  turned  their  thoughts  in  the 
direction  of  the  new  style.  One  of  the  most  de- 
lightful examples  is  the  Pazzi  Chapel  (1420)  of  S. 
Croce,  perhaps  the  earliest  building  completed  in 
the  Renaissance  style.  Other  well-known  church- 
es of  his  are  S.  Lorenzo  and  S.  Spirito,  each  of 
which  has  a  small  dome  over  the  crossing  of  the 
nave  and  transepts.  All  the  details  are  copied 
from  the  Roman  models,  with  which  careful  study 
had  made  him  familiar. 

The  second  great  exponent  of  Renaissance 
architecture  in  Florence  was  Alberti  (1404-1473), 
who  was  a  young  man  while  Brunelleschi's  dome 
was  swelling  out  against  the  sky.  Alberti  was 
an  ardent  scholar,  and  the  author  of  a  valuable 
treatise  on  the  art  of  building,  a  book  which  was, 
perhaps,  the  most  important  work  of  his  life, 
for  it  became  very  popular,  and  greatly  influenced 
the  designs  of  his  contemporaries  and  successors. 
Brunelleschi,  as  we  have  seen,  had  made  a  careful 
study  of  the  imperial  architecture  of  Rome,  but 
II 


l62         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


in  his  own  designs  he  in  no  way  reproduced  it. 
He  merely  borrowed  the  great  leading  principles 
of  Roman  construction,  and  carried  out  the  designs 
in  accordance  with  his  own  ideas.  Alberti  was 
different :  he  was  pre-eminently  a  scholar,  and 
had  a  distinct  leaning  towards  everything  Latin. 
Even  his  great  work  was  written  in  Latin,  and 
his  partiality  for  pure  Roman  details  and  models 
is  evident  in  his  buildings.  In  his  Ruccelai 
Palace  at  Florence,  for  example  (1460),  we  see 
the  first  instance  of  pilasters  applied  to  the  fagade; 
these  are  introduced  into  each  story  (as  in  the 
Colosseum),  the  orders  being  superimposed,  and 
each  carrying  an  entablature. 

Another  important  work  by  Alberti  was  the 
facade  of  S.  Maria  Novella  in  Florence — an  ap- 
plied-marble facing,  in  which  he  introduced  pilas- 
ters and  a  true  classical  pediment.  In  this  church 
we  see  the  earliest  instance  of  the  use  of  vo- 
lutes for  connecting  the  higher  walls  of  the  nave 
with  those  of  the  aisles,  a  feature  which  was 
constantly  imitated  by  later  designers.  The  treat- 
ment of  the  church  fa9ade  was  one  of  the  most 
difficult  problems  which  the  early  Renaissance 
architects  had  to  solve,  and  in  many  of  the  churches 
no  attempt  was  made  to  solve  it.  The  problem 
was  a  new  one,  for  the  architects  could  get  no 
help  from  the  ruins  of  the  baths,  theatres,  or 
temples,  but  found  it  necessary  to  invent  their 
own  fa9ades  and  to  clothe  them  with  classical 
details.  The  result  was  a  lack  of  sincerity,  for 
the  external  casing  had  no  structural  connection 
with  the  building  which  it  was  designed  to  mask, 

The  churches  of  S.  Andrea  at  Mantua  and 
S.  Francesco  at  Rimini  are  important  works  by 
Alberti.    The  latter  is  worthy  of  careful  study  as 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  163 


an  illustration  of  the  methods  of  the  Renaissance. 
In  this  instance  the  Gothic  church  was  entirely 
remodelled,  and  was  dressed  up  with  a  profusion 
of  classical  detail  and  ornament.  Alberti's  in- 
complete work,  while  very  beautiful,  exposes  the 
falsity  of  principles  of  the  Renaissance  methods: 
there  was  a  tendency  among  the  builders  to  dis- 
regard that  only  law,  that  Use  be  suggester  of 
Beauty,"  and  at  Rimini  this  fact  is  borne  home 
upon  the  visitor.  The  pilasters,  architraves,  and 
other  classical  features  with  which  Alberti  has 
clothed  the  interior  are  merely  a  series  of  surface 
deceits,  having  nothing  more  to  do  with  the 
structural  strength  of  the  design  than  the  paint- 
ings upon  the  walls. 

Architecture  at  this  period  was  having  a  great 
time  at  Florence  under  the  patronage  of  Cosmo 
de'  Medici,  a  nobleman  of  vast  influence  and 
more  than  regal  wealth.  Under  Brunelleschi's 
lead  there  soon  sprang  up  a  band  of  architects 
imbued  with  the  same  spirit,  whose  genius  created 
those  magnificent  monuments  of  the  Renaissance 
— the  Florentine  palaces.  Chief  among  these 
are  the  Riccardi  (1430)  by  Michelozzo,  the  Strozzi 
(1489-1553)  by  Cronaca,  and  the  Palazzi  Antinori, 
Guadagni,  and  Pandolfini,  the  latter  from  a 
design  by  Raphael.  These  are  all  characterised 
by  solidity  and  strength,  for  they  required  to 
be  fortresses  as  well  as  palaces :  the  walls  were 
of  masonry,  in  large  blocks,  heavily  ".rusticated." 
In  this  rustic  work,  as  it  is  inaptly  named,  a  deep 
channelling  marks  the  joints,  from  which  the  face 
of  the  rough  stonework  projects  boldly.  In 
some  cases  the  rustication  extends  over  the  whole 
fagade,  but  it  was  generally  confined  to  the  lower 
story.    This  treatment  gives  a  pleasing  variation 


164        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


of  light  and  shade,  suggesting  at  the  same  time 
a  note  of  sturdiness  which  is  in  harmony  with  the 
spirit  and  temper  of  mediaeval  Florence. 

In  the  Palazzo  Strozzi,  which  is  a  good  type 
of  the  Florentine  palace,  the  rustication  is  treated 
simply,  but  covers  the  whole  fagade.  A  serious 
defect  in  the  design  of  many  of  these  buildings 
is  apparent  here — the  uniform  height  of  the 
stories,  as  indicated  by  the  string-courses  at  the 
level  of  the  window-sills.  This,  together  with 
the  somewhat  monotonous  repetition  of  uniform 
windows,  tends  to  detract  from  the  grandeur  of  the 


Fig.  51.— Renaissance  capital.         windows  reflect  the 


of  this  great  republic.  The  torch-rests  of  wrought 
metal,  the  dim  courts,  and  the  gloomy  entrances, 
all  tell  their  own  history;  in  them  we  trace  the 
habits  of  caution  which,  of  necessity,  characterised 
the  Florentine  leaders.  And  as  designs  they  must 
be  studied,  and  their  merits  weighed,  amidst  their 
own  sunny  surroundings,  and  in  connection  with 
the  history  which  they  helped  to  make  ;  for  it  is 
impossible  to  judge  them  from  their  reproductions 


design.  To  some 
extent  the  defect  is 
redeemed  by  the 
great,  finely  pro- 
portioned cornice, 
which  crowns  the 
building,  and  makes 
every  other  feature 
subordinate  and  of 
secondary  impor- 
tance. 


These  heavy 
walls   and  narrow 


disturbed  civic  life 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  165 


in  the  form  of  West-end  clubs  in  sunless  London. 
Seen  in  Florence,  these  buildings  are  great  pages 
of  history,  which  he  who  passes  may  read.  Fit- 
ness is'indeed  one  of  the  elements  of  true  archi- 
tecture, and  few  buildings  can  lay  greater  claim 
than  these  to  represent  the  fit  expression  and  the 
embodiment  of  the  spirit  of  the  times  which  pro- 
duced them. 

In  Florence  many  of  the  architects  of  the 
fifteenth  century  were  trained  in  the  workshops 
of  the  craftsmen — rooms  in  which  were  carried 
on,  under  one  roof,  the  arts  of  the  painter,  the 
goldsmith,  and  the  sculptor.  By  these  crafts- 
men the  new  details  were  developed  in  decora- 
tive accessories,  such  as  altars,  pulpits,  and 
monuments,  in  many  of  which  the  work  is  most 
delicate  and  refined ;  indeed,  in  many  cases,  the 
subordinate  architectural  works  are  artistically 
much  finer  than  the  buildings  in  which  they  are 
placed.  These  details  were  invariably  worked  in 
marble,  with  delicate  mouldings,  and  exquisite 
carving  in  low  relief.  The  pulpit  of  S.  Croce  in 
Florence  is  a  fine  example — beautiful  in  form, 
and  in  the  execution  of  every  detail. 

Great  activity  in  building  prevailed  in  other 
cities  of  Italy,  outside  Florence,  during  the  fif- 
teenth century,  and  notably  in  Milan  and  Venice. 
Rome  at  the  earlier  period  was  almost  entirely 
dependent  upon  second-rate  Florentine  artists, 
and  much  of  the  work  there  was  unimportant. 

Milan  was  the  first  of  the  cities  in  which  the 
new  architecture  took  root ;  and  here,  for  the 
first  time,  we  come  into  contact  with  the  third 
great  Renaissance  architect,  Bramante,  whose 
work  eventually  culminated  in  the  great  design 
of  S.  Peter's  in  Rome. 


1 66        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Bramante  was  not  born  until  1444,  when 
many  of  the  great  Florentine  buildings  which 
we  have  noticed  were  already  in  existence.  Like 
his  nephew,  the  great  Raphael,  he  was  a  native 
of  the  small  town  of  Urbino.  His  chief  works 
were  in  Rome,  but  among  his  buildings  in  Milan 
may  be  mentioned  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
church  of  S.  Maria  delle  Grazie,  and  the  little 
octagonal  sacristy  of  S.  Maria  presso  San  Satiro. 

The  most  interesting  example  of  the  Renais- 
sance style  near  Milan  is  to  be  found  at  Pavia, 
where,  in  1491,  a  facade  was  added  to  the  Gothic 
certosa,  or  monastery.  This  front  is  covered  with 
a  profusion  of  marble  ornament,  richly  and  deli- 
cately wrought,  like  the  ivory  carving  of  a  cas- 
ket, but  quite  inappropriate  for  its  position. 

The  Renaissance  movement  in  Milan  was  about 
half  a  century  later  than  in  Florence,  having,  in 
fact,  been  introduced  there  by  Florentine  artists. 
In  Venice  the  style  was  still  later  in  appearing. 
The  Venetians  at  this  period  were  well  satisfied 
with  their  architecture,  and  well  they  might  be, 
for,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Gothic  style,  tinged  and 
enriched  by  Byzantine  influences,  had  produced 
buildings  of  exquisite  beauty  and  design.  The 
security  and  prosperity  of  the  city  rendered  such 
fortress-like  architecture  as  that  of  Florence  un- 
necessary; moreover,  there  was  a  state  of  war 
between  the  Florentines  and  the  Venetians,  and 
the  two  cities  hated  one  another  cordially.  It  is 
not  surprising,  then,  that  Venice  should  be  slow 
to  borrow  her  forms  of  architecture  from  her 
neighbour.  She  adopted  the  style  somewhat  re- 
luctantly; at  first  in  small  details,  grafted  upon 
the  Gothic  forms,  as  in  the  Porta  della  Carta  of 
the  Doges'  Palace.    The  design  of  this  gateway 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  167 


is  wholly  Gothic  in  composition,  but  the  mould- 
ings, and  the  sportive  Cupids  appearing  amidst 
the  foliage,  are  classical  suggestions.     In  the 


Fig.  52. — Spinelli  Palace. 


internal  quadrangle  the  Renaissance  forms  are 
more  evident,  mingled  with  the  Gothic  pointed 
arches. 

In  the  delightful  little  church  of  S.  Maria  dei 
Miracoli,  one  of  the  earliest  examples  of  the  new 
style,  we  see  the  influence  of  Byzantine  tradition. 
This  influence  is  suggested,  externally,  in  the 
cupola  and  the  semicircular  roof  and  pediment, 


1 68        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


all  of  which  would  seem  to  be  borrowed  from 
the  neighbouring  S.  Mark's.  Inside,  the  walls 
are  incrusted  with  an  inlay  of  coloured  marbles. 
The  fagades  of  the  school  of  S.  Mark,  and  of 
S.  Zaccaria,  show  features  manifestly  borrowed 
from  the  same  source. 

Under  the  strong  influences  of  the  Byzantine, 
and  of  the  characteristic  Venetian  Gothic,  we  find, 
as  would  be  expected,  a  great  divergence  from 
the  Florentine  model  in  the  Renaissance  palaces, 
which  are  chiefly  found  along  the  banks  of  the 
^'finest  curved  street  in  the  world,"  the  Grand 
Canal.  The  Spinelli  Palace  is  a  good  type  of  the 
Venetian  building.  Here  the  fa9ade  has  three 
well-defined  stories,  crowned  by  a  bold  cornice. 
The  lower  story  has  a  central  door,  with  steps 
leading  down  to  the  canal ;  on  the  first,  or  princi- 
pal floor,  is  a  balcony,  an  almost  indispensable 
adjunct.  The  windows  are  grouped  irregularly, 
in  a  manner  com.mon  to  most  Venetian  palaces, 
the  central  ones  being  massed  together,  while 
those  on  either  side  stand  free — a  notable  im- 
provement upon  the  monotonous  spacing  of  the 
Florentine  and  Roman  palaces.  The  Vendra- 
mini  Palace  (1481)  shows  similar  features. 

Rome  during  the  greater  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century  was  stagnating,  and  Renaissance  archi- 
tecture made  practically  no  headway  there.  But 
in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  so  great 
an  impetus  was  given  to  the  Renaissance  move- 
ment that  this  short  period  witnessed  its  culmina- 
tion in  the  city.  The  causes  which  contributed 
chiefly  to  this  result  were  the  succession  of  the 
strong  and  ambitious  Julius  II.  to  the  Papal 
chair,  and,  with  his  accession,  the  great  increase 
in  wealth  and  power  of  the  Church  in  Rome. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.         1 69 


Wealthy  families,  whom  the  troublous  times  of  the 
preceding  century  had  driven  out,  returned  to 
the  city,  and  soon  began  to  vie  with  one  another 
in  palace-building.  Among  the  architects  the  new 
style  found  a  great  exponent  in  Bramante,  who 
became  to  Rome  what  Brunelleschi  had  been  to 
Florence. 

Bramante  appears  not  to  have  been  an  espe- 
cially original  genius;  but  he  had,  before  coming 


Fig.  53, — Court-yard,  Cancellaria  Palace. 


to  Rome,  the  advantage  of  profiting  by  the  origi- 
nality of  his  predecessors  in  Florence  and  Milan. 
His  work  is  marked  by  great  variety  of  treatment, 
and,  in  general,  by  simplicity  and  good  propor- 
tions. One  of  his  earliest  designs,  the  Palazzo 
Cancellaria,  has  a  simple  fagade  rather  monoto- 


lyo        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 

nously  treated,  with  strips  of  pilasters  spaced  in 
pairs  between  the  windows.  The  arcading  of  the 
court-yard  shows  a  composition  of  arches  and  col- 
umns, borrowed  from  the  Florentine  architects, 
which  became  popular  with  later  Renaissance 
builders. 

These  columns,  by-the-bye,  like  so  many  other 
details  of  Roman  buildings,  have  a  strange  history. 
They  are  monolithic  shafts,  and  originally  formed 
part  of  the  great  theatre  of  Pompey — the  first 
stone  theatre  of  Rome,  built  about  55  b.c.  Dur- 
ing the  Middle  Ages  this  building  suffered  the 
usual  fate,  and  was  used  as  a  quarry  for  stone 
and  marble,  from  which  the  basilican  church  of 
S.  Lorenzo  was  almost  entirely  built.  Bramante 
pulled  down  the  greater  portion  of  the  basilica, 
in  order  to  build  the  great  Cancellaria  palace  for 
Cardinal  Riario,  using,  amongst  other  materials, 
fifty  of  the  old  columns  for  his  two-storied  arcade. 

Bramante's  work  culminated  later  in  the  great 
design  of  S.  Peter's.  Julius  II.  had  employed 
Michelangelo  to  design  a  colossal  monument  for 
himself,  and  the  ambitious  pope  next  set  his  mind 
upon  the  erection  of  a  vast  mausoleum  to  cover 
the  monument.  Bramante  was  entrusted  with  the 
work,  and  began  his  great  task  in  1506.  His  de- 
sign took  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross — a  cross  with 
four  equal  arms — with  an  apsidal  end  to  each 
arm,  and  a  dome  over  the  crossing.  The  haste 
with  which  the  work  was  carried  on  led  to  a  col- 
lapse of  some  of  the  main  walls,  a  catastrophe 
which  was  followed  by  Bramante's  death  in  15 14. 
After  this  the  original  design  underwent  many  va- 
riations in  the  hands  of  a  succession  of  architects 
— Raphael  the  painter,  Giulianoda  San  Gallo,  and 
Peruzzi,  among  others.    Each  of  these  devised  a 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


171 


new  plan  and  made  fundamental  alterations  to 
the  original  scheme,  so  that  little  real  progress  was 
made  with  the  structure  for  many  years.  At  last, 
after  a  chequered  career,  the  building  was  handed 
over  in  1546  to  Michelangelo,  then  more  than 
seventy  years  of  age.  Under  his  energetic  con- 
trol the  work  progressed  without  interruption  for 
eighteen  years.  He  reverted,  in  the  essentials,  to 
the  original  plan  of  Bramante,  a  Greek  cross,  but 
with  a  square  projecting  portico  to  the  front,  and 
with  the  mighty  dome  over  the  crossing.  With 
such  energy  did  he  prosecute  the  work  that,  at 
his  death  in  1564,  the  design  was  completed,  with 
the  exception  of  the  east  front  and  the  dome  cov- 
ering. He  left  behind  him  a  complete  model  of 
all  the  unfinished  parts,  which  were  completed 
under  Vignola,  Giacomo  della  Porta,  and  Fonta- 
na,  before  the  end  of  the  century. 

So  far,  the  design  of  Michelangelo,  based  upon 
that  of  Bramante,  had  been  adhered  to  with  little 
variation  ;  but  in  the  seventeenth  century  Maderna, 
the  architect  to  Pope  Paul  V.,  set  himself  the  task 
of  improving  upon  it.  He  added  two  bays  to  the 
nave, — thus  transforming  the  plan  from  a  Greek 
into  a  Latin  cross,  and  destroying  the  propor- 
tions,— and  he  erected  the  existing  tasteless 
fagade,  which  completely  shuts  off  the  view  of 
the  dome  from  the  front.  The  splendid  colon- 
nade, which  encircles  the  piazza,  was  added  later 
by  Bernini  {1629-1667). 

S.  Peter's,  thus  completed  after  an  interval  of 
160  years,  is  the  largest  church  in  existence.  The 
vast  central  aisle,  nave,  and  choir,  almost  600  feet 
in  length,  are  divided  into  only  six  bays  ;  the  nave 
itself  has  four  bays  only.  Over  the  crossing  of 
the  transepts  hangs  the  great  dome,  140  feet  in 


172         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


diameter,  rising  to  a  height  of  400  feet.  With  so 
few  parts,  in  a  building  of  such  colossal  dimen- 
sions, it  follows  that  all  the  parts  must  themselves 
be  on  a  vast  scale.  Internally  there  is  nothing  to 
give  scale  to  the  building,  and  to  enable  the  eye 
to  form  an  estimate  of  the  size;  there  is  no  mul- 
tiplicity of  parts,  as  in  a  Gothic  design,  to  confuse 
the  eye,  and  so  increase  the  apparent  size.  Herein 
lies  a  serious  defect  in  the  design.  "  Rome  dis- 
appoints me  much ;  S.  Peter's,  perhaps,  in  es- 
pecial," writes  Clough,  and  this  impression  of  S. 
Peter's  must  be  shared  by  almost  every  visitor, 
for  the  colossal  scale  of  the  interior,  in  the  absence 
of  smaller  details,  is  lost  upon  the  observer.  Ex- 
ternally, the  fagade  is  ruined  by  the  clumsy  work 
of  Maderna  ;  but  from  a  distant  point  of  view  the 
mighty  dome,  dwarfing  all  other  buildings,  and 
seemingly  suspended  in  mid-air,  is  an  impression 
that  can  never  be  forgotten.  ''There's  a  kind  of 
miracle  in  it.  Go  where  you  will,  that  dome  fol- 
lows you.  Again  and  again,  storm  and  mist  may 
blot  out  the  rest — that  remains."  And  it  is  per- 
haps only  in  this  dim,  blue  distance,  when  one  is 
enabled  to  contrast  the  great  mass  with  the  sur- 
rounding buildings,  that  the  mind  can  fully  gauge 
the  immensity  of  this  great  work  of  Michelangelo. 

The  story  of  the  building  of  S.  Peter's  carries 
us  down  to  the  seventeenth  century.  During  the 
150  years  that  the  work  was  in  progress.  Renais- 
sance architecture  passed  through  various  phases. 
In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  a  treatise 
by  Vignola  upon  the  classical  orders  had  great 
influence  upon  his  contemporaries,  and  led  to  a 
more  formal  and  direct  imitation  of  the  classical 
details  of  old  Rome.  Many  notable  buildings  by 
the  greatest  architects   of   the   time — Vignola^ 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  173 


Michelangelo,  Palladio,  and  Sammichele — were 
studiously  correct  and  simple  in  detail,  unlike  the 
free  and  inventive  work  of  the  earlier  period. 
The  desire  for  simple  and  grand  effect  led  to  a 
new  method  of  treatment,  the  use  of  one  colossal 
order  embracing  two  or  three  stories — the  Palla- 
dian  order,  as  it  is  called.  Palladio  was  not  the 
first  to  introduce  this  treatment,  but  it  was  made 
familiar  by  a  book  which  he  wrote  upon  the  sub- 
ject, which  was  widely  read  in  England,  and 
greatly  influenced  English  architecture  in  this  di- 
rection. No  Italian  architect  has  left  his  impress 
so  strongly  upon  English  architecture  as  Palladio. 
Possibly  his  influence  was,  in  part,  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  taught,  better  than  any  one  else,  the 
method  of  obtaining  good  effect  cheaply  and  sim- 
ply,— that  he  could  make  a  design  ^'  grand  with- 
out great  dimensions  and  rich  without  much  ex- 
pense," by  the  somewhat  unworthy  use  of  plaster 
or  stucco  with  which  he  coated  his  buildings. 

France. — While  the  Italian  architects  were 
busily  reviving  the  old  national  architecture  in 
their  own  country,  the  Gothic  style  in  France  was 
vigorous  and  full  of  vitality;  and  for  a  long  time 
the  Renaissance  movement  had  no  effect  upon  it. 
But  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the 
wars  of  the  French  kings  brought  them  into  con- 
tact with  the  Renaissance  palaces  of  Italy,  the 
monarchs  became  fired  with  ambition  to  imitate 
these  splendid  residences,  and  brought  back  in 
their  train  several  Italian  architects,  whom  they 
employed  to  reproduce,  to  some  extent,  the  great 
palaces  of  their  own  country.  In  France,  how- 
ever, the  foreign  artists  could  not  have  things 
their  own  way.    They  introduced  many  classical 


174        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


details,  but  the  national  Gothic  traditions  were 
very  strong,  and  for  a  long  time  only  the  minor 
details  could  be  introduced,  while  the  general 
plan  and  composition  of  the  designs  continued  to 
be  unaffected. 

There  ensued,  then,  a  long  period  of  transi- 
tion, when  classical  details  were  grafted  upon 
Gothic  designs,  in  the  way  we  find  them  at  the 
chateau  of  Blois.  Here  the  portion  which  was 
built  for  Louis  XII.,  about  1500,  shows  a  curious 
blending  of  the  styles:  the  general  impression  is 
of  a  Gothic  building,  but  the  new  influences  are 
distinctly  seen  in  the  mouldings  and  in  the  strongly 
emphasised  horizontal  lines.  It  was  not  until  the 
reign  of  Francis  I.,  when  the  new  architecture  be- 
came fashionable,  that  the  classical  forms  began 
to  assert  themselves  and  to  dominate  the  design. 
The  beautiful  Transitional  work  of  this  period, 
the  Fran9ois  Premier,"  as  it  is  called,  is  full  of 
charm,  differing  from  the  Renaissance  of  Italy  in 
three  characteristic  features,  as  the  result  of  the 
influence  of  Gothic  tradition  in  France.  These 
special  features  are  (i)  a  picturesqueness  of  com- 
position and  of  outline  ;  (2)  the  steep-pitched  roof, 
with  the  natural  development  of  dormers  and 
high  chimneys;  and  (3)  lack  of  symmetry  and  of 
formality  of  plan. 

The  best  examples  of  the  Fran9ois  Premier 
style  are  the  palaces  built  by  the  king  himself — 
the  north  wing  of  the  chateau  of  Blois  (1525)  with 
its  famous  external  staircase,  the  great  palace  of 
Fontainebleau,  and  the  chateau  of  Chambord. 
At  Chambord  (1526)  we  find  greater  formality  of 
plan  than  was  usual  during  the  earlier  period, 
and  an  elaborate  roof — almost  overweighting  the 
design — with  a  multitude  of  dormers  and  tall 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  175 

chimneys,  crowned  in  the  centre  with  a  fantastic 
lantern. 

At  Chenonceaux,  Azay-le-Rideau,  and  else- 
where dotted  throughout  the  district  of  Touraine, 
the  delightful  chateaux  of  the  nobility  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  memorable  times  when  Francis  held 
his  court  on  the 
banks  of  the  Loire. 
In  most  of  these  we 
find  the  same  char- 
acteristics —  steep 
roofs  and  elaborate 
dormers,  angle  tou- 
relles,  and  emphatic 
horizontal  string- 
courses and  cor- 
nices. The  greatest 
undertaking  of  the 
reign,  however,  was 
the  rebuilding  of  the 
Louvre  in  Paris, 
which  was  put  in 
hand  about  1545, 
shortly  before  the 
death  of  Francis. 
Serlio,  an  Italian, 
had  been  consulted 

about    the   designs.  Fig.  54.— Azay-le-Rideau. 

but   the  work  was 

entrusted  to  a  French  architect,  Pierre  Lescot, 
under  whom  half  the  palace — comprising  two 
sides  of  a  vast  court-yard — was  erected.  The 
work  progressed  throughout  various  reigns  down 
to  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  (1660),  and  was  not 
actually  finished  until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  Napoleon  III.  added  the  north  and 


176         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


south  fagades.  Thus  completed,  the  Louvre  is 
the  most  extensive  of  all  European  palaces,  and 
supplies  an  excellent  record  of  the  .progress  of 
French  Renaissance.  The  design  has  two  main 
stories,  with  Corinthian  order  of  pilasters  below 
and  composite  above ;  over  these  is  a  low  attic 
story.  Some  of  the  sculptured  work,  by  Jean 
Goujon,  is  especially  good.  The  well  known  im- 
posing Corinthian  colonnade  of  the  east  front,  al- 
most 600  feet  in  length  (1688),  was  the  work  of 
the  court  physician  Perrault. 

Another  building  of  the  early  period  was  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  in  Paris,  begun  about  1550  from 
the  designs  of  an  Italian,  but  since  destroyed  by 
fire.  In  the  great  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  designed 
for  Catherine  dei  Medici  by  Philibert  Delorme 
(1564),  several  features  were  introduced  for  the 
first  time  in  French  architecture;  two  of  these — 
the  bands  of  rustication  carved  at  intervals  across 
the  pilasters  and  the  walls,  and  the  broken  pedi- 
ments of  the  attic  story  crowned  with  statuary — 
became  specially  characteristic  of  later  French 
Renaissance.  The  introduction  of  the  broken 
pediments,  in  imitation,  perhaps,  of  Michelangelo's 
work  in  the  Medici  chapel  at  Florence,  was  prob- 
ably due  to  Catherine's  suggestion.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  the  idea  found  favour  with  the  French,  and 
the  feature  has  remained  popular  with  them  to 
the  present  day. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
architecture  had  lost  much  of  the  early  charm  of 
the  Transitional  period,  and  many  of  the  buildings 
of  Henry  IV.  (1589-1610)  are  coarse  in  detail  and 
inferior  in  design  :  the  least  interesting  portions 
of  the  Louvre  and  of  the  Tuileries  date  from  this 
period.    Of  a  little  later  date  are  two  great  French 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.         1 77 


palaces  which  should  be  noted — the  Luxembourg 
(1615),  with  a  fagade  rusticated  like  the  garden 
front  of  the  Pitti  Palace  in  Florence,  and  the  pal- 
ace at  Versailles,  built  at  enormous  cost  for  Louis 
XIV.  by  J.  H.  Mansard  (1645-1708),  a  vast,  un- 
interesting pile,  with  singularly  monotonous  fa- 
cades, and — if  we  except  the  chapel — with  hardly 
a  redeeming  feature  in  its  design.  By  the  same 
architect,  but  a  more  successful  design,  is  the 
Hotel  des  Invalides  in  Paris,  with  a  great  central 
dome  like  that  of  S.  Paul's  in  London.  The  lofty 
external  cupola  is  constructed  of  wood  covered 
with  lead;  the  true  dome,  of  stone,  is  built  on  a 
smaller  scale  inside.  In  all  these  designs  of  the 
later  Renaissance  it  will  be  noticed  that  there  is 
greater  formality,  symmetry,  often  stateliness  of 
design,  but  a  lack'of  the  picturesque  charm  of  the 
earlier  period.  One  special  feature  of  the  Gothic 
style,  however,  was  always  retained  in  the  French 
buildings — the  steep-pitched  roofs;  and  in  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  the  massive 
Mansard  "  roof  formed  a  very  prominent  feature 
in  the  design. 

England. — Gothic  architecture,  we  have  seen, 
had  run  its  course  uninterruptedly  in  England 
for  many  centuries,  little  disturbed  by  foreign 
influences.  True,  the  Tudor "  Gothic  of  the 
sixteenth  century  was  a  somewhat  degenerate 
form,  but  it  was  producing  many  fine  buildings, 
and  the  domestic  mansions  of  the  style — such  as 
we  find  at  Haddon  Hall,  in  Derbyshire  (about  1 540) 
— were  well  suited  to  the  hospitable  requirements 
of  the  time.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  there 
should  have  intervened,  as  in  France,  a  long  and 
interesting  period  of  transition  before  the  newly 
12 


178        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


imported  classical  details  could  displace  the  older 
Gothic  forms. 

This  Transitional  period  commenced  practically 
with  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  (1558),  when  the  court 
began  to  give  much  attention  to  classical  studies, 
and  to  introduce  numerous  foreign  artists  and 
craftsmen.  At  this  time,  and  especially  during 
the  early  part  of  the  century,  there  were  enor- 
mous numbers  of  foreigners  in  England — French, 
Dutch,  Italians,  and  others;  in  fact,  the  presence 
of  so  many  aliens  led  to  a  good  deal  of  unpleas- 
antness and  even  to  riots.  The  native  workmen 
complained  then — as  they  have  complained  ever 
since — that  the  foreigners  brought  over  numbers 
of  ready-made  articles,  which  they  sold,  and  thus 
lessened  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done  by  the 
native  craftsmen.  In  this  way,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, foreign  ideas  and  minor  classical  details 
began  to  find  their  way  into  the  country.  Per- 
haps the  first  important  step  in  this  direction, 
however,  was  the  employment  of  the  Italian 
artist  Torrigiano,  in  15 12,  to  design  the  tomb 
of  Henry  VII.  in  Westminster  Abbey,  a  design 
which  he  carried  out  in  the  style  of  his  na- 
tive country.  Similarly  an  Italian  would  design, 
in  his  own  Renaissance  style,  a  chimney-piece 
here,  a  monument  there,  so  that  the  classical  forms 
became,  as  in  France,  familiar  first  through  the 
medium  of  such  accessories.  As  classical  culture 
came  more  into  vogue,  books  upon  Renaissance 
art  and  architecture  were  translated  from  Italian 
into  English,  and  were  freely  read.  Under  these 
influences  the  Gothic  features  tended  to  disappear, 
.and  a  clothing  of  classical  orders  began  to  adorn 
the  wall  surfaces  and  entrance  doorways.  Soon 
these  became  incorporated  in  the  design,  while 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.         1 79 


the  forms  and  details  underwent  a  gradual  change, 
as  the  builders  came  more  and  more  under  the 
sway  of  the  new  movement. 

The  noble  mansion  of  Elizabeth's  time,  the 
familiar  "  Tudor-chimnied  pile  of  mellow  brick- 
work," belongs  to  this  Transitional  period.  In 
examining  one  of  these  buildings  it  is  interesting 
to  note  how  the  classical  details  gradually  crept 
in,  while  the  general  Gothic  disposition  was  at 
first  unaffected.  At  Haddon  Hall  (1540)  the  Tudor 
element  predominates,  passing,  in  the  later  addi- 
tions and  alterations,  into  the  earliest  Elizabethan. 
Here  we  see  the  characteristically  English  feature, 
the  great  square  bay  window,  divided  into  smaller 
lights  by  a  number  of  mullions  and  transoms. 
The  influence  of  the  Perpendicular  Gothic  is  seen, 
too,  in  Hardwicke  Hall,  where  the  design  is 
almost  overpowered  by  the  enormous  windows,  so 
that  the  rhyme, 

Hardwicke  Hall, 
More  glass  than  wall, 

seems  to  be  literally  true.  The  pierced  parapet, 
which  crowns  the  building,  is  a  feature  of  frequent 
occurrence :  in  places  we  find  it  pierced  into 
patterns;  sometimes  the  piercing  takes  the  form 
of  a  sentence  or  motto.  At  Hardwicke  the  design 
shows  the  initials,  E.S.,  of  Elizabeth,  Countess  of 
Shrewsbury,  who  built  the  mansion.  Wollaton 
Hall,  Notts  (1590),  has  an  early  example,  in  the 
parapet,  of  the  fantastic  strap "  ornament,  a 
feature  quite  peculiar  to  English  Renaissance. 
The  angle  tower  of  Wollaton,  in  the  illustration 
on  page  180,  shows  also  the  free  use  of  the  three 
orders,  and  the  method  in  vogue  of  clothing  the 
wall  surfaces  with  classical  details. 


l8o         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Inside  the  Elizabethan  mansions  the  prominent 
features  were  the  broad,  massive  staircase  of  oak 


Fig.  55.— Tower,  Wollaton  Hall. 


or,  less  frequently,  of  stone,  and  the  great  hall, 
panelled  or  hung  with  tapestry,  with  open  timber 
roof,  bay  windows,  and  minstrels'  gallery.  In 
larger  mansions  a  great  gallery  was  often  found  on 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  l8l 


the  first  floor,  extending,  in  some  cases,  the  whole 
length  of  the  building,  as  at  Montacute  House, 
near  Yeovil,  where  the  gallery  is  20  feet  wide  and 
no  less  than  170  feet  in  length. 

Few  mansions  of  the  period  are  more  interest- 
ing than  Burghley  House,  in  Lincolnshire,  built  for 
the  celebrated  Lord  Burghley.  On  the  building 
there  are  several  dates,  ranging  from  1577  to  1587, 
so  that  it  probably  took  about  ten  years,  between 
these  dates,  to  build.  Letters  which  have  been 
found  referring  to  the  building,  from  Lord 
Burghley  to  the  builders  and  workmen,  throw 
some  light  upon  the  manner  in  which  building 
operations  were  carried  on  in  those  days.  The 
workmen  wrote  direct  to  the  employer  for  instruc- 
tions, and  all  the  details  of  the  design  were 
referred,  not  to  the  architect,  but  to  the  employer 
himself.  The  latter  would  settle  many  questions 
without  outside  assistance,  but  for  some  of  the 
more  important  features  he  would  obtain  sketches 
or  suggestions  from  different  architects  in  London, 
so  that  the  ideas  of  several  architects  might  thus 
be  embodied  in  the  same  building.  In  Burghley 
House  the  greater  part  of  the  design  is  the  work 
of  John  Thorpe,  an  architect  who  was  at  the  time 
head  of  his  profession.  The  employer  appears  to 
have  been  personally  responsible  for  much  of  the 
detail  ;  he  would  naturally  glean  most  of  his 
information  from  books,  and,  in  this  instance,  was 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  orders,"  which  are 
superimposed  in  the  Italian  manner.  The  craze  is 
carried  to  excess  in  the  treatment  of  the  chimneys, 
which  are  shaped  like  columns,  with  bases  and 
caps,  and  carry  small  entablatures. 

In  many  of  the  designs  a  good  deal  of  the 
-personal  element  was  introduced ;  the  builders 


l82        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


were  not  hampered  by  restrictions,  and  if  a  de- 
signer had  what  he  considered  a  happy  idea,  he 
was  free  to  embody  it  in  his  design,  so  that  we 
occasionally  find  quite  childish  freaks  perpetrated. 
In  an  interesting  collection  of  sketches  and  notes 
by  John  Thorpe,  in  the  Soane  Museum,  London, 
there  are  some  careful  studies  of  the  orders,  and 
some  plans  and  drawings  of  a  house  which  Thorpe 
designed  for  himself.  The  plan  of  the  building 
is  in  the  form  of  the  designer's  initials,  J.  T., 
the  two  portions  of  the  building  being  connected 
by  a  corridor.    Beneath  the  plan  he  had  written  : 

These  two  letters,  J  and  T, 

Joined  together  as  you  see, 

Is  meant  for  a  dwelling-house  for  me. 

Although  in  some  of  the  more  classical  designs 
the  plans  were  symmetrical,  in  other  cases  the 
arrangement  was  quite  fanciful.  Montacute  House, 
with  its  vast  gallery,  already  referred  to,  showed 
a  plan  not  uncommon  in  those  days,  in  the  shape 
of  the  letter  E — perhaps  a  courtier's  graceful 
compliment  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  But  the  cour- 
tiers took  care,  whatever  the  plan,  that  comfort 
was  not  sacrificed  to  appearance,  believing,  with 
Bacon,  that  houses  were  made  to  live  in,  not  to 
look  on,"  and  the  interior  arrangements  were 
excellently  designed  to  cope  with  the  lavish  hos- 
pitality which  prevailed  in  the  '^spacious  days" 
of  Elizabeth.  Very  suggestive  of  the  open  house 
are  the  legends  often  found  carved  amongst  the 
ornament;  thus,  over  the  front  entrance  at  Mon- 
tacute: ''And  yours,  my  friends";  while  round 
the  garden  porch  run  the  words:  ''Through  this 
wide  opening  gate,  none  come  too  early,  none  re- 
turn too  late." 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  183 


Among  other  famous  Elizabethan  mansions 
may  be  mentioned  Longleat  in  Wiltshire,  Pens- 
hurst  and  Knole  House  in  Kent — the  latter  re- 
modelled in  the  reign  of  James  I. — and  Kingston 
House,  Bradford-on-Avon,  a  replica  of  which  fitly 
represented  English  architecture  in  the  Rue  des 
Nations  at  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1900. 

During  the  reign  of  James  I.  (1603-1625), — 
the  "  Jacobean  "  period, — classical  forms  were 
used  more  freely  than  ever ;  or  perhaps  we 
should  say,  forms  of  classical  origin,  for  the 
details  were  so  distorted  and  caricatured  as  to 
be  barely  recognisable.  Audley  End  (1603-1616), 
erected  by  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  in  Essex,  one  of 
the  most  notable  mansions  of  the  period,  is  said 
to  have  been  designed  from  a  model  brought 
from  Italy  at  a  cost  of  ^500  ;  but  the  style  was 
so  modified  in  transmission  that,  in  1669,  we  find 
Prince  Cosmo's  secretary — an  Italian — criticising 
the  design,  and  failing  to  recognise  in  it  the  archi- 
tecture of  his  native  land.  "  The  architecture  of 
the  palace,"  he  says,  *Ms  not  regular,  but  inclined 
to  Gothic,  mixed  with  a  little  of  the  Doric  and 
Ionic."  If,  then,  a  contemporary  Italian  failed  to 
recognise  the  style  of  the  period,  though  it  had 
been  introduced  from  his  own  country,  it  is  small 
wonder  that  we  find  difficulty  in  tracing  and  ac- 
counting for  all  the  forms  and  features.  Certainly 
this  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  work  is  one  of 
the  most  curious  and  puzzling  transitional  styles 
known  in  history.  Buildings  of  the  same  date 
show  an  extraordinary  diversity  in  both  the 
amount  and  the  character  of  the  classical  fea- 
tures introduced.  In  some  cases  the  designs  are 
mediaeval  buildings,  with  the  Gothic  details  left 
out,  and  a  good  deal  of  uncertainty  as  to  what  clas- 


1§4        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


sical  forms  should  be  put  in  their  place.  Evelyn, 
when  visiting  Audley  End,  noted  it  in  his  diary  as 
a  mixed  fabric  betwixt  ancient  and  modern,  and, 
without  comparison,  one  of  the  stateliest  in  the 
kingdom  "  ;  and  Samuel  Pepys  was  puzzled  by  the 
architecture,  but  admired  ^' the  stateliness  of  the 
ceilings  and  the  form  of  the  whole,  and  drank  a 
most  admirable  drink,  a  health  to  the  King." 

It  was  but  natural  that  this  confusion  should 
end  in  a  reaction,  and  a  return  to  the  more  cor- 
rect and  dignified  use  of  the  classical  orders. 
The  man  under  whose  influence  the  disorder  gave 
way,  and  who  may  be  styled  England's  first  great 
Renaissance  architect,  was  Inigo  Jones. 

Inigo  Jones  (1572-1652)  had  studied  in  Italy, 
especially  at  Vicenza,  the  birthplace  of  Palladio, 
where  he  came  under  the  influence  of  that  great 
master's  work.  Returning  to  England,  he  en- 
deavoured to  introduce  the  monumental  style  of 
Palladio,  and  in  the  Duke  of  Devonshire's  villa 
at  Chiswick,  one  of  his  first  works,  he  repro- 
duced, on  a  smaller  scale,  Palladio's  Villa  Capra 
at  Vicenza.  His  great  opportunity  appeared  to 
have  arrived  when  he  received  the  commission 
to  design  an  immense  palace  at  Whitehall  for 
Charles  I.  The  designs  for  this  great  building, 
and  the  noble  composition  of  the  Banqueting 
Hall — the  only  portion  erected — are  sufficient  to 
place  Inigo  Jones  amongst  the  foremost  masters 
of  the  Renaissance.  The  treatment  of  this  fagade, 
with  its  two  rusticated  stories  ornamented  with 
pilasters  and  engaged  columns,  is  suggestive  of 
Palladio,  who,  as  we  noticed,  frequently  super- 
imposed his  orders,  instead  of  grouping  two 
stories  under  one  order  in  the  so-called  Palladian 
style. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  185 


More  fortunate  in  his  opportunities  than  Jones 
was  his  great  successor,  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  the 
central  figure  in  English  Renaissance  history,  who 
left  his  impress  so  unmistakably  upon  the  new 
London  which  sprang  up  after  the  great  fire. 
Wren  was  thirty-four  years  of  age,  and  had  just 
made  a  name  for  himself  as  an  architect,  when 
the  great  fire  of  London  in  1666  cleared  the  field 
for  him.  One  of  his  earliest  works  completed 
after  the  fire  was  Temple  Bar,  erected  in  1670,  and 
removed  two  centuries  later  (in  1878),  in  which 
was  had  an  excellent  example  of  his  style,  and  of 
his  judicious  use  of  ornament.  In  connection 
with  his  ecclesiastical  work  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  Wren  was  called  upon  to  build  large 
churches  hurriedly,  and  at  a  very  small  cost.  His 
church  designs  were  hampered  by  various  con- 
siderations, and  invariably  by  lack  of  funds,  but 
he  succeeded,  almost  without  exception,  in  ob- 
taining good  effect  in  a  simple  and  inexpensive 
manner. 

Before  the  old  Gothic  cathedral  of  S.  Paul  was 
destroyed  by  fire.  Wren,  who  had  been  instructed 
to  survey  it,  had  given  an  adverse  report,  in  which 
he  stated  that  the  columns  were  giving  way  under 
the  weight  of  the  heavy  roof.  He  made  various 
recommendations,  but  the  debate  upon  his  report 
dragged  out,  in  the  usual  way,  for  many  months, 
and  nothing  was  really  done  until  the  question 
was  finally  settled  by  the  great  fire  and  the  total 
destruction  of  the  building.  In  a  striking  pas- 
sage in  Evelyn's  diary, dated  August  27th,  1666 — 
six  days  before  the  fire  broke  out — he  states  that 
he,  with  Wren  and  several  experts,  surveyed  the 
structure  that  day,  and  concluded  that  a  new 
building  was  necessary;  ''and  we  had  a  mind," 


1 86        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


he  says,  "  to  build  it  with  a  noble  cupola,  a  form 
not  as  yet  known  in  England,  but  of  wonderful 
grace."  Some  years  passed,  however,  before  the 
committee  could  settle  whether  the  ruins  should 
be  restored  on  their  old  lines,  or  whether  an  en- 
tirely new  design  should  be  erected  ;  and  it  was 
not  until  1675  that  the  new  cathedral  was  put  in 
hand. 

As  with  S.  Peter's  at  Rome,  Wren's  original 
plan  was  a  Greek  cross,  with  four  equal  arms  ; 

but  the  authorities  would  not 
agree  to  this  departure  from  the 
ecclesiastical  form,  and  it  was 
accordingly  extended  unto  a 
Latin  cross.  In  the  exterior  de- 
sign we  see  two  stories  of  the 
Corinthian  order,  but  the  upper 
story  is  a  sham,  for  it  is  merely 
a  screen  with  nothing  behind  it. 
A  deceit  such  as  this  detracts 
from  the  architectural  merit  of 
the  design,  though  it  adds  a  dig- 
nity which  would  otherwise  be 
lacking  to  the  composition.  The 
west  front,  and  the  dome,  rest- 
ing upon  a  lofty  drum,  sur- 
rounded by  a  fine  peristyle,  are 
the  most  successful  features,  leading  most  critics 
to  endorse  Fergusson's  encomium.  The  exteri- 
or of  S.  Paul's,"  he  says,  "  surpasses  in  beauty  of 
design  all  the  other  examples  of  the  same  class 
which  have  yet  been  carried  out ;  and,  wheth.er 
seen  from  a  distance  or  near,  it  is,  externally  at 
least,  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  beautiful 
churches  in  Europe."  S.  Paul's  has  the  advantage 
over  S.  Peter's  in  that  it  was  completed  within 


Fig.  56.  —  Section 
through  dome,  S. 
Paul's. 


STORV  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  187 


the  space  of  thirty-five  years,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  one  architect.  S.  Peter's,  on  the 
other  hand,  suffered  from  various  interruptions, 
and  occupied  a  century  and  a  half  in  building, 
while  twenty  popes  and  a  dozen  architects  had  a 
hand  in  its  construction. 

The  illustration  shows  the  method  by  which, 
in  S.  Paul's,  the  dome  is  built  up.  The  inner 
cupola  is  carried  up  in  brickwork  almost  in  the 
form  of  a  hemisphere,  with  an  opening  20  feet 
wide  at  the  top.  The  dome,  as  we  see  it  from  the 
outside,  is  constructed  on  a  much  more  imposing 
scale,  in  woodwork  covered  with  lead ;  a  brick 
cone,  built  up  between  these  two,  carries  the 
heavy  stone  lantern.  Thus  the  "  dome,"  which 
forms  so  conspicuous  a  feature,  is,  in  reality, 
merely  a  sham  ;  the  true  masonry  domes — the 
structural  portions — are  the  inner  cupola,  and  the 
central  cone,  which  is  invisible. 

As  construction,  and,  indeed,  as  architecture, 
this  feature  in  S.  Paul's  cannot  compare  with  the 
domes  at  Florence  and  at  Rome  ;  there  is  not  the 
same  honesty  of  treatment.  Wren  had  never 
seen  either  of  these  Italian  domes,  but  he  was 
doubtless  familiar  with  the  method  of  their  con- 
struction. Had  he  been  given  a  free  hand,  he 
would  probably  have  built  upon  these  earlier 
Italian  principles;  but  he  was  influenced  by  con- 
siderations of  expense,  and  his  method  was  cer- 
tainly the  cheaper  of  the  two. 

The  interior  of  S.  Paul's  is  hardly  so  impres- 
sive as  the  exterior,  but  this  is  the  fault  of  the 
style.  It  does  not  disappoint  in  quite  the  way 
S.  Peter's  does,  for  it  is  on  a  smaller  scale,  and 
one  does  not  expect  such  great  impressions  from 
it.    The  internal  effect  of  the  dome  is  marred  by 


1 88        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


the  excessive  relative  lengths  of  the  nave  and  of 
the  choir.  At  first,  on  entering,  one  is  hardly 
conscious  of  the  dome ;  after  approaching  it, 
the  great  length  of  the  choir  detracts  from  its 
grandeur. 

In  Wren's  numerous  London  churches  he 
showed  great  skill  in  the  use  of  simple  materials 
and  in  making  the  most  of  the  limited  funds  at 
his  disposal.  In  many  designs  the  most  success- 
ful features  were  the  steeples,  which  he  may 
claim  to  have  been  the  first  to  introduce  to  Eng- 
lish Renaissance  architecture.  A  notable  ex- 
ample is  the  beautiful  and  finely  proportioned 
steeple  of  Bow  Church,  Cheapside.  But  the 
steeple  belongs  more  truly  to  Gothic  architecture, 
where  it  forms  an  appropriate  crowning  feature 
of  the  whole  design.  The  emphatic  horizontal 
lines  which  mark  all  classical  compositions  render 
the  Renaissance  steeple,  with  its  diminishing 
stories  piled  one  upon  the  other,  somewhat  of  an 
anomaly. 

The  Sheldonian  Theatre  at  Oxford,  the  south- 
ern portions  of  Greenwich  Hospital,  Trinity  Col- 
lege library,  Cambridge,  and  the  garden  front  of 
Hampton  Court  Palace,  are  among  Sir  Christopher 
Wren's  most  important  secular  works.  His  genius 
is  more  evident  in  such  buildings  as  these  than  in 
his  London  churches.  It  would  be  too  much  to 
expect  of  any  man  that  he  should  be  successful  in 
the  designs  of  half  a  hundred  churches,  all  built 
at  the  same  time,  and  from  limited  funds.  It 
would  seem  that  Wren  monopolised  the  work  of 
the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  for 
during  this  very  active  period  there  was  hardly  a 
building  of  any  importance  which  did  not  come 
from  his  hands.     With  the  eighteenth  century 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  189 


new  names  come  mto  prom- 
inence, notably  Hawksmoor, 
Wren's  pupil,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  his  practice,  Van- 
brugh,  and  Gibbs.  Hawks- 
moor  gave  the  London 
churches  of  S.  George, 
Bloomsbury,  and  S.  Mary 
Woolnoth ;  Gibbs,  the  in- 
teresting designs  of  S. 
Mary-le-Strand  and  S.  Mar- 
tin's -  in  -  the  -  Fields.  The 
greatest  work  of  Sir  John 
Vanbrugh  was  the  mansion 
of  Blenheim — the  nation's 
gift  to  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough— designed  in  the 
ponderous  symmetrical 
style  which  the  architect 
affected,  and  which  is  seen 
again  in  Castle  Howard, 
Yorkshire. 

Architecture  in  England 
during  the  greater  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century  was, 
to  a  large  extent,  a  matter 
of  names.  The  architects 
were  greatly  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Palladio,  whose 
drawings  had  been  pub- 
lished and  were  much  in 
vogue.  Under  his  lead 
there  was  a  tendency,  even 
in  domestic  buildings,  to 
sacrifice  everything  to  sym- 
metry and  stateliness.  Ba- 


FiG.  57. — Steeple 
Mary-le-Bow 


of  S. 


igo        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


con's  dictum  was  reversed,  for  the  houses  were 
now  built  to  be  looked  on,  not  lived  in."  With 
all  this,  however,  there  was  comparatively  little 
noteworthy  architecture  produced.  The  work  of 
the  century,  taken  as  a  whole,  shows  little  origi- 
nality or  high  artistic  merit ;  nothing  more  can  be 
said  of  it  than  that  it  was  a  respectable  sort  of 
architecture,  hovering  between  dignity  and  dul- 
ness. 

Among  the  later  architects  of  the  century.  Sir 
William  Chambers  designed  the  most  important 
building  of  the  time,  Somerset  House,  which  he 
remodelled  from  designs  of  Inigo  Jones,  and 
treated  in  the  refined  style  which  marked  every- 
thing that  left  his  hands.  A  greater  work — 
through  its  wide  influence  over  successive  gen- 
erations of  students — was  his  book,  a  "Treatise 
on  Civil  Architecture."  Of  this  period  also  are 
the  Mansion  House,  London,  by  George  Dance, 
senior;  the  Bank  of  England,  by  Sir  John  Soane ; 
Keddlestone  Hall  in  Derbyshire,  by  Robert  Adam 
— one  of  the  four  brothers  who  gave  their  name 
to  the  elegant  "  Adam  "  style  of  interior  decora- 
tion which  they  introduced — and  Newgate  Prison, 
by  the  younger  Dance,  a  vigorous  and  appropri- 
ate design,  shortly  to  be  replaced  by  the  new 
Assize  Courts. 


IX. 

MODERN  ARCHITECTURE. 

There  is  little  to  add  to  what  has  already 
been  said  regarding  the  architecture  of  the 
eighteenth  century.    An  interesting  development 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  191 


took  place  in  the  American  colonies,  into  which 
the  English  settlers  introduced  the  classical  forms 
of  Wren  and  other  Renaissance  architects.  In 
the  new  continent  the  early  buildings  were  almost 
entirely  of  wood,  and  the  details  were  gradually 
modified  to  suit  the  new  requirements. 

In  comparison  with  the  enormous  strides 
which  have  been  made  during  the  nineteenth 
century  in  all  branches  of  science,  the  progress 
of  architecture  during  this  period  is  hardly  worth 
consideration.  Throughout  the  continent  of  Eu- 
rope comparatively  few  notable  buildings  have 
been  produced  during  the  past  century.  In 
France,  as  we  have  noted,  the  Louvre  and  the 
Tuileries  were  completed,  and  the  new  Opera 
House  was  built  in  Paris  (1863-1875).  Austria 
has  produced,  among  several  fine  public  halls  and 
theatres,  the  great  Opera  House,  and  the  House 
of  Parliament  (1843)  in  Vienna,  and  the  Dresden 
Theatre,  all  designed  more  or  less  on  classical 
lines.  German  architecture  in  the  early  part  of 
the  century  received  an  impetus  under  Schinkel 
(d,  1841),  who  designed  the  Museum  at  Berlin, 
with  its  great  portico  of  Ionic  columns,  and  the 
Court  Theatre,  also  in  Berlin,  in  which  the  Greek 
forms  are  admirably  adapted  to  the  requirements. 
Other  well-known  buildings  are  the  Propylaea  at 
Munich,  and  the  Walhalla  at  Ratisbon — a  copy  of 
the  Parthenon,  by  von  Klenze  (1784-1864).  In 
general,"  writes  Hamlin,  "the  Greek  revival  in 
Germany  presents  the  aspect  of  a  strong  striving 
after  beauty,  on  the  part  of  a  limited  number  of 
artists  of  great  talent,  misled  by  the  idea  that 
the  forms  of  a  dead  civilisation  could  be  gal- 
vanised into  new  life  in  the  service  of  modern 


192         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


needs.  The  result  was  disappointing,  in  spite  of 
the  excellent  planning,  admirable  construction, 
and  carefully  studied  detail  of  these  buildings, 
and  the  movement  here,  as  elsewhere,  was  fore- 
doomed to  failure." 

In  England  the  past  century  has  been  one  of 
successive  revivals.  Each  of  the  three  great 
styles — Greek,  Gothic,  and  Renaissance — has  had 
its  day  ;  but  it  is  only  within  comparatively  recent 
years  that  any  definite  progress  has  been  made 
towards  the  formation  of  a  distinct  national  style 
of  architecture.  In  the  early  part  of  the  century 
the  interest  aroused  by  the  publications  of  Stuart 
and  Revett  and  others  upon  the  monuments  of 
Greece,  and  the  importation  of  the  Parthenon 
sculptures  by  Lord  Elgin,  led  to  a  craze  for 
Greek  details.  Doric  and  Ionic  orders  were 
used  in  connection  with  every  design,  without 
any  regard  to  propriety,  provided  only  they  were 
of  strictly  correct  detail  and  proportions.  Every 
house  had  its  classical  portico,  every  church  was 
a  slavish  copy  from  a  Greek  model.  In  the 
church  of  S.  Pancras,  London,  the  architect  re- 
produced the  Caryatid  Porch  of  the  Erechtheum 
at  Athens,  and  copied  his  steeple  from  the  Tem- 
ple of  the  Winds.  The  revived  Greek  style  found 
its  highest  expression  in  S.  George's  Hall,  Liver- 
pool, by  Elmes  and  Cockerell ;  and  so  closely 
were  the  classical  details  adhered  to  in  this  build- 
ing that,  in  Fergusson's  words,  the  architect 
failed  in  his  endeavours  if  you  are  able  to  detect 
in  S.  George's  Hall  any  feature  which  would  lead 
you  to  suppose  the  building  might  not  belong  to 
the  age  of  Augustus." 

Meanwhile,  a  small  band  of  enthusiasts  had 
been  preparing  the  way  for  the  revival  of  the 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  193 

neglected  and  almost  forgotten.  Gothic  architec- 
ture. The  publication  of  Britton's  great  work  on 
"The  Cathedral  Antiquities  of  England"  caused 
man}^  people  to  reflect  that,  after  all,  Gothic  was 
the  great  national  style,  and,  as  such,  was  more 
suited  to  the  English  requirements  than  the  Greek 
temple  forms  could  possibly  be.  Rickman's  book 
upon  the  Gothic  styles  followed,  and  the  move- 
ment, once  in  progress,  soon  gained  strength.  It 
did  not  lack  great  leaders — writers  as  well  as 
designers  :  Pugin,  Street,  and,  weightiest  of  all, 
Ruskin,  threw  their  influence  into  the  scale,  and 
the  Gothic  revival  became  an  established  fact.  It 
produced  many  notable  buildings  ;  chief  among 
them  the  Houses  of  Parliament  at  Westminster, 
begun  by  Sir  Charles  Barry  in  1839,  the  Per- 
pendicular style,  and  the  New  Law  Courts  in 
London,  by  Street. 

But  while  the  Gothic  movement  was  at  its 
height,  the  Greek  school  had  by  no  means  become 
extinct.  The  two  styles  were  being  worked  out 
simultaneously  in  a  way  that  was  quite  unprece- 
dented. At  Liverpool  the  classical  style  was  cul- 
minating in  S.  George's  Hall,  begun  in  almost  the 
same  year  (1840)  that  saw  the  inception  of  the 
Gothic  Houses  of  Parliament  in  London  ;  more- 
over, the  architect  of  the  Gothic  building  was  at 
the  same  time  ,busy  with  such  classical  designs  as 
the  Treasury  buildings  and  the  Reform  Club. 
Small  wonder,  then,  that  there  resulted  a  great 
"Battle  of  the  Styles,"  which  was  waged  fiercely 
between  the  opposing  parties.  It  was  especially 
bitter  over  the  great  competition  for  the  Govern- 
ment Oflices  in  1857,  the  result  of  which,  to  quote 
the  late  J.  M.  Brydon's  words,  "  was  quite  typical 
of  the  ding-dong  of  party  warfare.    Won  by  a 


194        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


classical  design,  the  decision  was  annulled  in 
favour  of  a  Gothic  building,  to  be  reversed  again 
in  its  turn,  and  finally  carried  out  in  classic  by  a 
Gothic  architect  against  his  will.'' 

The  last  part  of  the  century  has  witnessed  in 
England  and,  indeed,  through  Europe,  a  return  to 
the  Renaissance  principles,  seen  in  a  large  num- 
ber of  designs  in  which  the  classical  forms  are 
treated  with  freedom,  and  often  with  skilful 
adaptability  to  new  materials  and  new  methods  of 
construction.  The  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century  foreshadowed  the  vast  influence  which 
the  extensive  use  of  iron  is  to  exercise  in  the 
future  upon  architectural  works  and  upon  all 
forms  of  design.  Commercial  buildings  are  now 
becoming  nothing  more  than  gigantic  frameworks 
of  iron  and  steel,  covered  with  a  clothing  of 
masonry.  ^'  For  thousands  of  years,"  as  a  recent 
writer  puts  it,  ^'  every  large  building  in  the  world 
was  constructed  with  enormous  walls  of  masonry 
to  hold  up  the  inner  framework  of  floors  and 
partitions.  It  was  a  substantial  and  worthy 
method  of  construction,  and  there  seemed  no  need 
of  changing  it.  But  one  day  a  daring  builder, 
with  an  idea,  astonished  the  world  by  reversing 
this  order  of  construction,  and  building  an  inner 
framework  strong  enough  to  hold  up  the  outside 
walls  of  masonry.  The  invention  was  instantly 
successful,  so  that  to-day  the  construction  of  a 
tall  building  is  '  not  architecture,  but  engineering 
with  a  stone  veneer.'  "  The  result  of  all  this,  and 
the  outcome  of  the  utilitarian  requirements  of 
the  day,  is  the  American  sky-scraper  " — "  a  steel 
bridge  standing  on  end,  with  passenger  cars  run- 
ning up  and  down  within  it  " — which,  within  the 
last  ten  years,  has  become  a  familiar  feature  in 


Fig.  58. — American  sky-scraper. 


196        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


almost  every  great  American  city.  The  illustra- 
tion shows  one  of  the  greatest  of  these  extraordi- 
nary structures — the  Park  Row  Building  in  New 
York — in  course  of  construction.  Comprised  in 
the  numerous  stories  of  this  building  are  no  less 
than  950  rooms,  designed  to  accommodate  a  pop- 
ulation of  4,000  people  !  The  photograph  gives 
us  the  result  of  only  twelve  weeks'  work  upon  this 
gigantic  structure,  and  illustrates  the  wonderful 
rapidity  with  which  such  a  building  may  be  com- 
pleted when  the  construction  is  carried  out  in 
accordance  with  the  methods  of  the  twentieth 
century. 


X. 

ARCHITECTURE  IN  AMERICAN 

Regardless  of  their  interest  to  the  ethnolo- 
gist and  the  archaeologist,  the  wigwams  and  pueb- 
los of  the  North  ■  American  Indians  were  not  of 
a  nature  permanently  to  influence  the  architec- 
ture of  the  United  States.  The  strong  races — 
English,  Spanish,  French,  and  Dutch — that  poured 
into  the  colonies  like  the  Romans  into  Gaul  and 
the  Normans  into  England,  brought  with  them 
the  manners,  customs,  and  traditions  of  their  na- 
tive countries,  and  built  their  new  homes  accord- 
ing to  the  fashions  prevailing  in  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  century  England,  Holland,  France,  or 
Spain.    At  first  many  of  their  building  materials 


This  chapter  has  been  prepared  by  the  American  pub- 
lishers. 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.         1 97 


were  imported  from  the  old  countries  ;  but,  while 
unhampered  by  aboriginal  tradition,  partly  through 
the  character  imposed  upon  them  by  the  social 
and  economical  conditions  of  the  colonies,  but 
chiefly  through  their  adaptation  to  the  climate 
and  the  gradual  introduction  of  native  materials, 
the  new  structures  almost  at  once  began  to  differ 
from  their  European  models.  Thus  arose  what 
modern  architects  are  pleased  to  call  "  colonial 
architecture  " — a  designation  equally  applicable 
to  all  the  colonial  styles,  but  by  usage  now  con- 
fined to  the  old  English  forms;  for  the  tastes 
and  prejudices  of  the  English  followed  their  po- 
litical successes  throughout  the  Eastern  colonies. 

At  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  the  Ameri- 
can colonies,  the  immediate  successors  of  Wren — 
Hawksmoor,  Vanbrugh,  Gibbs,  Sir  William  Cham- 
bers, and  the  brothers  Adam — were  building  Blen- 
heim, Castle  Howard,  and  Somerset  House;  and 
the  designs  for  some  of  the  earliest  work  in 
New  England,  particularly  the  churches,  are  said 
to  have  been  by  these  masters.  The  style  was 
the  Italian  Renaissance,  as  it  was  then  understood 
and  interpreted  in  England  and  adapted  to  Eng- 
lish use.  The  Roman  orders,  rigidly  and  pedan- 
tically adhered  to,  were  the  basis  of  all  architec- 
tural design.  But  where  in  England  the  building 
was  in  stone  or  in  brick  with  stone  details,  in 
America  it  was  ordinarily  in  wood  or  in  brick 
with  wooden  details.  The  proportions  of  the 
stone  building  were  too  massive  to  be  carried  out 
in  the  lighter  material,  but  the  facile  nature  of 
the  wood  gave  to  the  details  a  greater  delicacy 
than  could  be  attained  in  stone.  Thus  gradually 
it  became  common  in  the  provincial  work  to  at- 
tenuate the  orders.    Columns  and  pilasters  be- 


198        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


came  higher  in  proportion  to  their  diameters,  en- 
tablatures lower  in  proportion  to  the  height  of 
the  columns  or  pilasters  supporting  them. 

The  interiors  of  the  churches  followed  the 
traditions  established  in  S.  Stephen's,  Walbrook; 
in  S.  Mary-le-Bow ;  in  S.  James,  Piccadilly;  and 
in  other  contemporary  English  churches ;  and 
their  exteriors,  depending  almost  entirely  on  their 
towers  for  architectural  character,  were  in  imita- 
tion of  the  steeples  and  lanterns  of  Wren. 

The  formal  and  stately  beauty  of  the  great 
mansions,  some  of  which  are  fortunately  preserved 
to  us,  was  carried  out  with  as  studied  symmetry 
and  as  fastidious  precision  of  detail  in  the  domes- 
tic work  of  the  humbler  sort.    This  state  of  affairs 


Fig.  59. — Longfellow's  house,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


existed  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  what  was  accomplished  is  perhaps  best 
illustrated  by  the  following  extract:  ''In  respect 
to  decoration,  they  used  the  Roman  formulas  of 
columns,  pilasters,  and  entablatures,  together 
with  the   architraves,  window-caps,  and  balus- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  199 


trades  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  all  as  they 
were  understood  in  England  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  .  .  .  These  formulas,  however,  were  not 
developed  from  the  structure,  but  applied  to 
it.  Thus  the  characteristic  mansion  of  colonial 
times  was  usually  a  construction  of  square  plan 
in  brick  or  wood,  with  a  wide  hall  or  passage- 
way dividing  it  into  equal  halves.  As  a  structure 
it  was  complete  in  all  its  essential  parts  before 
it  had  begun  to  assume  architectural  character. 
For  this  it  depended  upon  a  pompous  portico  at 
the  main  entrance ;  upon  a  great  cornice,  con- 
structed in  the  form  of  a  full  entablature,  some- 
times supported  at  the  angles  by  pilasters;  its 
windows  were  framed  by  moulded  architraves, 
surmounted  by  carved  or  moulded  pediments  or 
frontispieces,  and  the  roof  was  crowned  with  a 
belvedere  or  with  a  balustrade  decorated  with 
vases.  All  these  details  were  apt  to  be  of  wood, 
but  they  were  correct  according  to  the  established 
dogmas  of  the  orders  adopted.  No  builder  had 
im.agination  enough  or  audacity  enough  to  at- 
tempt to  improve  them.  If  there  was  a  necessity 
for  attached  outbuildings,  these  were  equally 
arranged  on  each  side  of  the  main  structure  so  as 
to  form  a  symmetrical  composition.  The  neces- 
sity of  securing  such  a  composition  was  para- 
mount to  any  considerations  of  practical  conve- 
nience or  necessity.  The  test  of  ingenuity  in  the 
builder  was  to  obtain  this  result  with  the  least 
sacrifice  of  personal  comfort.  They  obtained  in 
their  interiors  bountiful  spaces,  grand  staircases 
with  easy  ascents  and  wide  landings;  carved  and 
twisted  balustrades  ;  apartments  of  state  whose 
walls  were  panelled  in  wood  from  floor  to  ceiling  ; 
chimney-pieces  delicately  moulded  and  carved 


200        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


with  prim  festoons,  garlands,  and  swags  of  buds; 
ceilings  crossed  by  finely  moulded  beams  and 
decorated  with  the  sort  of  stucco-work  made  fash- 
ionable in  the  old  country  by  the  brothers  Adam; 
panelled  wainscots  crowned  with  moulded  caps, 
which  were  embellished  with  dentils,  rosettes,  or 
triglyphs." 

In  recent  years  the  English  colonial  has  been 
revived  with  good  effect;  but  the  interest  in  it  is 
rather  a  patriotic  than  an  artistic  or  archaeological 
one,  and  promises  to  be  only  transitional.  The 
style  in  its  simplicity  and  daintiness  offers  a  pleas- 
ing relief  from  the  highly  wrought  creations  of 
former  years,  especially  in  the  Western  cities  ;  and 
if  it  is  teaching  nothing  else  it  is  showing  the  im- 
mense advantage,  artistical  and  practical,  of  hon- 
est building  over  the  striving  after  outlandish  and 
surprising  effects  carried  out  in  wood,  stamped 
iron,  and  plaster. 

A  century  before  the  settlement  of  New  Eng- 
land Spanish  missionaries  were  preaching  their 
way  into  California  and  the  Southwest,  and  build- 
ing there  mission-houses  and  churches  with  the 
arcades  and  belfries  of  rural  Spain.  In  Mexico 
this  type,  adjusted  to  local  conditions  of  climate 
and  use,  has  developed  itself  into  a  style  that 
we  recognise  as  peculiar  to  the  country,  and  as 
distinctly  different  from  contemporaneous  archi- 
tecture in  the  mother-country,  whose  tradition  it 
so  faithfully  preserves.  No  systematic  attempt 
ever  has  been  made  to  revive  this  style  in  the 
United  States,  or  even  in  those  States  where  it  is 
most  nearly  indigenous,  although  the  adoption  of 
it  for  the  extensive  buildings  of  the  Leland  Stan- 
ford Junior  University,  for  the  California  Building 
at  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago,  in  1893,  and  for 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


20I 


the  buildings  of  the  Pan-American  Exposition  in 
Buffalo,  in  1901,  betokens  a  serious  interest  in 
the  many  possibilities  that  it  offers.  In  Florida, 
the  centre  of  the  Spanish  colonies  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  the  design  has  been  carried  into  effect  in 
several  of  the  great  modern  hotels  with  signal 
success. 

The  old-fashioned  provincial  French  buildings 
in  New  Orleans  and  other  parts  of  Louisiana,  and 
the  stepped  gables,  the  fantastic  finials,  and 
weather-cocks  of  New  Amsterdam  are  architec- 
turally chiefly  memories,  and  while  now  and  then 
used  with  effect  in  decoration,  no  serious  attempt 
ever  has  been  made  to  revive  them. 

Until  recent  years  the  architectural  history  of 
the  United  States  is  largely  a  reflection  of  that  of 
Paris  and  London.  All  the  great  English  revivals, 
classic,  mediaeval,  and  Renaissance,  tempered,  it 
is  true,  by  many  American  characteristics,  were 
closely  followed  on  this  side  of  the  water  until 
perhaps  within  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  craze 
for  Greek  architecture  and  ornament  that  followed 
upon  the  publication  of  the  great  work  of  Stuart 
and  Revett,  "The  Antiquities  of  Athens,"  and 
which  supplanted  the  Roman  forms  of  Wren  and 
his  followers,  early  made  its  way  into  America. 
The  columns  of  the  Parthenon  were  imitated  in 
wood  and  set  up  in  front  of  public  buildings  and 
the  more  pretentious  residences;  belvederes  and 
cupolas  were  painted  parodies  of  the  Temple  of 
the  Winds  and  the  Choragic  Monument  of  I>ysic 
rates ;  and  carpenters  applied  the  new  formulas 
to  mantel-pieces,  doorways,  and  window-frames. 

The  most  distinguished  disciple  of  this  Greek 
revival  in  the  United  States  was  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, who  made  interesting  applications  of  this 


202         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


style  at  his  seat  at  Monticello  and  in  the  old 
buildings  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  of  which 
institution  he  was  the  founder.  While  he  was  in 
the  Cabinets  of  Washington  and  Adams,  and  while 
himself  President,  the  plans  for  the  national  Cap- 
itol and  presidential  residence  took  definite  shape, 
and  he  lent  all  his  interest  and  effort  towards  hav- 
ing them  built  according  to  the  best  architectural 
tradition  of  the  time. 

The  first  designs  for  the  Capitol,  or,  more  cor- 
rectly, for  what  is  now  but  the  small  central  part 
of  it,  were  submitted  in  a  public  competition  by 
Dr.  William  Thornton  (died  in  1827),  an  English 


Fig.  60. — The  Capitol  at  Washington. 

amateur  residing  in  America,  and  were  afterwards 
developed  and  practically  redrawn  and  the  build- 
ing built  by  the  gifted  architect  and  engineer 
Benjamin  H.  Latrobe  (1764-1820).  After  the 
burning  of  the  Capitol  by  the  British,  Latrobe  was 
given  charge  of  the  reconstruction,  but  he  was 
succeeded  in  1817  by  Charles  Bulfinch  (1763-1844). 
Bulfinch  was  one  of  the  strongest  factors  in  shap- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  203 


ing  the  architectural  tastes  of  the  country.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  and  his  state-houses 
in  Boston  and  in  Augusta,  Maine,  and  his  churches 
and  monuments  in  Boston  strongly  influenced  the 
public  and  domestic  architecture  of  New  England 
for  many  years.  His  work  is  characterised  by 
its  seriousness  and  its  absolute  correctness  of 
style.  Thomas  U.  Walter  (1804-1887),  the  sec- 
ond president  of  the  Institute  of  Architects,  added 
the  great  wings  and  built  the  great  dome  of  the 
Capitol  as  we  know  it  to-day,  completing  the 
work  in  1865. 

The  overworked  supervising  architect  of  the 
Treasury  Department  has  more  or  less  faithfully 
followed  the  style  of  this  first  great  building  in 
the  greater  part  of  the  public  buildings  of  the 
United  States.  With  rarely  less  than  fifty  such 
buildings  under  construction  at  the  same  time, 
these  national  monuments  have  become  mechan- 
ical and  monotonous,  and,  unlike  other  civilised 
nations,  it  is  impossible  to  point  to  the  later  na- 
tional architecture  as  representative  of  the  best 
skill  of  the  republic.  It  is  only  recently,  through 
legislation  prompted  by  the  American  Institute 
of  Architects,  that  this  important  public  service 
has  been  thrown  open  to  the  best  talent  of  the 
country. 

The  English  Gothic  revival  was  followed 
through  all  its  phases  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  battle  of  the  styles  "  was  waged  as  fiercely 
on  the  western  shores  of  the  Atlantic  as  on  the 
eastern.  As  was  natural,  by  reason  of  the  char- 
acteristic want  of  respect  for  historic  precedents, 
the  style  in  America  was  far  less  correct  and  lent 
itself  to  many  conceits  and  inventions  ;  but  for 
many  years  it  dominated  the  field,  drawing  its 


204        STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


inspiration  from  Pugin,  Ruskin,  and  the  other 
writers,  moral  and  artistic,  that  gave  the  revival 
its  remarkable  strength  in  England. 

The  Gothic  revival  was  followed  by  the  move- 
ment begun  in  England  by  Mr.  Norman  Shaw, 
and  known  there  as  the  Queen  Anne  revival," 
which  strove  to  revive  the  form  of  the  Renais- 
sance in  vogue  in  the  early  part  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  Its  effect  in  America  was  chiefly 
upon  wooden  domestic  architecture,  and,  affect- 
ed and  capricious,  was  justly  ephemeral.  Its 
characteristics  were  a  common  purpose  to  use 
small  panes  of  glass,  to  caricature  the  sunflower, 
and  systematically  to  degrade  certain  classic 
types. 

In  1857  a  few  architects  of  New  York  city 
united  to  form  the  first  architectural  society.  In 
1866  this  society  was  reorganised  as  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Architects.  It  established  chap- 
ters in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  East,  and  has 
been  one  of  the  greatest  influences  for  good,  both 
in  the  practice  and  appreciation  of  architecture. 
The  Western  Association  of  Architects,  with  its 
chapters  in  the  Western  cities,  united  with  the  In- 
stitute in  1890.  Each  of  these  chapters  has  a 
stated  monthly  meeting,  and  there  is  an  annual 
convention  of  the  national  body. 

Its  first  president,  Richard  Upjohn  (1802- 
1878),  of  New  York,  has  been  called  the  father  of 
American  architecture;  and  certainly  no  single 
man  of  the  second  and  third  quarters  of  the  cen- 
tury exerted  so  lasting  an  influence,  either  from 
the  standpoint  of  his  art  or  his  personality.  His 
great  works.  Trinity  and  S.  Thomas  m  New 
York,  Grace  Church  and  Christ  Church  in  Brook- 
lyn, Grace  Church  in  Providence,  S.  Paul's  in 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  205 

Buffalo,  S.  Peter's  in  Albany,  the  Cathedral  in 
Bangor,  S.  Paul's  in  Baltimore,  and  numerous 
other  churches  and  many  secular  buildings,  are 
mainly  in  pure  archaeological  Gothic;  and  they 
were  the  first  monuments  of  pure  romantic  style 
in  America,  and  built  at  a  time  when  America, 
breaking  away  from  colonial  and  classical  tradi- 
tions, was  most  in  need  of  just  such  examples. 
Speaking  of  his  influence  in  the  Institute  of  Ar- 
chitects, a  fellow-member  says  :  He  did  more  in 
his  day  than  any  other  one  man  to  awaken  a  fra- 
ternal feeling  in  the  profession,  and  to  break 
through  the  isolation  created  by  that  mutual  jeal- 
ousy and  unreasoning  distrust  which  unhappily 
divided  the  architects  of  that  time  and  prevented 
them  from  enjoying  the  fruits  of  united  and  har- 
monious action." 

An  even  more  potent  influence  for  the  better- 
ment of  architectural  ideals  has  been  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  American  architectural  schools. 
The  first  was  founded  through  the  generosity  and 
public  spirit  of  Richard  M.  Hunt  (1828-1895),  the 
third  president  of  the  Institute.  He  assented  to 
become  the  teacher  of  several  young  men  who 
desired  better  and  more  liberal  instruction  than 
could  be  obtained  by  the  usual  office  appren- 
ticeship or  by  infrequent  and  expensive  study 
abroad.  In  his  methods  of  instruction  he  fol- 
lowed the  plan  of  the  French  School  of  Fine  Arts, 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  American 
graduates. 

His  work  has  been  followed  up  by  the  suc- 
cessful establishment  of  schools  of  high  standard 
at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology, 
now  under  Prof.  Francis  Ward  Chandler  (1844- 
 )  ;  Columbia  University,  under  Prof.  WjUiam 


2o6         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


Robert  Ware  (1832  ) ;  Cornell  University, 

under  Prof.  Charles  Babcock ;  and  many  others. 
These  schools,  with  their  curricula  modelled  on  the 
broad  lines  of  American  educational  methods,  have 
taken  the  instruction  out  of  the  hands  of  half- 
instructed  practitioners  "  and  are  raising  it  to  a 
high  plane. 

American  architectural  periodicals  have  large- 
ly supplanted  those  of  foreign  publication;  and 
the  reproduction  of  the  best  current  work,  built 
for  and  adapted  to  American  uses,  together  with 
the  ease  of  intercommunication,  are  tending  to 
create  a  unity  of  architecture  over  the  entire 
cou^ntry. 

The  construction  of  the  American  sky-scrap- 
er "  has  been  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter. 
The  vast  number  built  and  building,  not  only  in 
New  York  and  the  larger  cities  of  the  country, 
but  in  many  of  the  smaller  cities  as  w^ell,  attests 
to  their  practicability  and  their  permanency  as  a 
feature  of  American  architecture.  While  strain- 
ing far  the  traditions  of  the  schools,  many  of 
these  structures  are  not  unbeautiful,  and  the  skill 
and  courage  with  which  American  architects  meet 
these  harsh  though  practical  requirements  argues 
well  for  what  may  perhaps  in  the  future  produce 
a  national  architecture  growing  out  of  the  spirit 
of  the  people. 

The  World's  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago, 
and  the  others  that  have  followed  it  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  culminating  in  the  Pan- 
American  at  Buffalo  in  1901,  in  addition  to  prov- 
ing "  that  the  art  in  this  country  has  passed  the 
time  of  its  pupilage,  and  that  it  is  capable  of 
meeting  the  largest  demands  ever  made  upon 
architecture  as  a  purely  decorative  art  in  a  sym- 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  207 


pathetic  and  adequate  manner  not  only  with  pure 
classic  but  with  romantic  and  picturesque  forms, 
so  treated  as  to  reflect  at  the  same  time  our  re- 
spect for  the  past,  our  confidence  in  the  future,  and 
the  innate  independence  of  the  national  charac- 
ter," they  have  been  great  and  useful  object-les- 
sons to  the  country  at  large. 

In  a  smaller  but  a  similar  w^ay  the  building 
of  great  country-houses,  which  is  in  a  way  the 
most  recent  addition  to  American  domestic  life, 
the  replacing  of  the  older  churches  crowded 
out  by  the  advancing  business  of  the  great  cit- 
ies, and  the  building  of  handsomely  endowed 
library  buildings  in  almost  every  city  of  conse- 
quence in  the  land,  give  to  the  American  arch- 
itect an  opportunity  to  teach  his  great  lesson 
to  the  people  unrivalled  in  any  country  in  the 
w^orld. 

But  one  revival  remains  to  be  considered,  and 
one  so  broad  and  honest  in  its  principles,  and  so 
worthy  and  capable  of  development,  that  it  bids 
fair  to  give  a  lasting  mark  of  distinction  to  Ameri- 
can building.  This  was  the  introduction  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  of  heavy  Roman- 
esque forms  from  the  south  of  France,  low- 
browed round  arches,  stone  mullions  and  tran- 
soms, wide-spreading  gables,  severe  sky-lines,  ap- 
sidal  projections,  rounded  angles,  and  towers 
with  low,  pointed,  domical  roofs  ;  great  wealth  of 
carving  where  the  work  is  rich  ;  a  general  aspect 
of  heaviness  and  strength,  frequently  degenerat- 
ing into  an  affectation  of  rudeness;  columns  are 
short  and  stumpy,  and  capitals  show  Byzantine 
influence;  colonnades  and  arcades  of  windows 
are  frequent,  and  all  are  free  from  the  trammels 
of  classicism."    This  revival  is  distinctly  x\meri- 


2o8         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


can,  and  its  influence  has  been  as  strongly  marked 
upon  the  older  as  upon  the  younger  members  of 
the  profession. 

The  man  who  stood  at  the  head  of  this  great 
movement  was  Henry  Hobson  Richardson  (1838- 
1886),  whose  career  was  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing and  perhaps  one  of  the  most  distinguished  in 
the  history  of  modern  architecture.  He  was  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  College  in  1859,  and  at  the  School 
of  Fine  Arts  in  Paris.  He  returned  to  America  in 
1865,  but  the  first  of  his  great  work  was  the  build- 
ing of  Brattle  Street  and  Trinity  Churches  in  Bos- 
ton in  1871-1875. 


His  influence  be- 
gan to  be  felt 
very  soon  and 
very  widely,  and, 
without  any  effort 
or  desire  to  found 
a  school,  he  drew 
about  him  a  large 
number  of  young 
men,  on  whom  the 
impress  that  he 
left  was  very 
strong.  His  work 
was  characterised 
by   breadth  and 


Fig.  61.— Trinity  Church,  Boston,  Mass.      simplicity,  and  the 

disposition  topro- 
duce  effect  rather  by  the  power  of  great  mass  and 
form  than  by  elaboration  of  detail.  He  drew 
chiefly  on  the  Romanesque  of  Auvergne,  but  was 
largely  indebted  for  detail  to  Anjou,  Aquitaine, 
Provence,  and  Normandy.  He  collected  all  the 
books,  prints,  and  photographs  that  bore  upon 


STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING.  209 


the  subject,  and  made  thorough  and  conscien- 
tious personal  studies  in  the  byways  of  southern 
France  for  examples  and  details.  The  result  of 
it  has  been  a  strengthening  of  the  architecture  of 
the  country,  which  must  always  mark  an  epoch 
in  its  history. 


14 


SELECTED  LIST  OF  BOOKS. 


Fergusson    History  of  Architecture. 

Hamlin    Text-book    of  the  History  of 

Architecture. 

Fletcher    History  of  Architecture  for  the 

Student,  Craftsman,  and  Ama- 
teur, 

Stratham    Architecture  for  General  Read- 

ers. 

Lanciani    Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of 

Modern  Discovery, 

Roger  Smith  &  Slater  Classic  and  Early  Christian 
Architecture. 

Roger  Smith    Renaissa7tce  and  Gothic  Archi- 

tecture. 

Parker    Introduction   to  the   Study  of 

Gothic  Architecture, 

Ruskin    Sto7tes  of  Venice. 

  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture. 

Anderson    Architecture  of  the  Renaissance 

in  Italy. 

Oliphant    Makers  of  Florence. 

Symonds    The  Renaissance  of  the  Fine 

Arts  in  Italy. 

Blomfield    Short   History  of  Renaissance 

Architecture  in  England. 

Gotch    Early  Renaissance  Architecture 

in  England. 

Bond    English  Cathedrals  Illustrated. 

Phythian   Art  in  the  British  Isles. 

2IO 


INDEX. 


A. 

Alberti,  i6i. 
Alhambra,  loo. 

American  architectural  schools,  205. 
American  Institute  of  Architects, 
204. 

Amiens  Cathedral,  128,  139. 
Arch  of  Constantine,  70. 
Arches,  early  examples  of,  18,  29, 
53,  54- 

Arnolfo  del  Cambio,  150,  157. 
Assyrian  remains,  28. 
Audley  End,  Essex,  183,  184. 
Azay-le-Rideau,  chateau  of,  175. 

B. 

Banqueting  Hall,  Whitehall,  184. 
Basilicas,  74,  80. 
Beauvais  Cathedral,  130. 
Beni-Hasan,  tombs  at,  16,  18. 
Blenheim  Palace,  189. 
Blois,  chateau  of,  174. 
Bow  Church,  Cheapside,  188. 
Bradford-on-Avon,  116,  183. 
Bramante,  166,  169. 
Brunelleschi,  157,  161. 
Bulfinch,  Charles,  202. 
Burghley  House,  181. 
Byzantine  architecture,  88. 

C. 

Cancellaria  Palace,  169,  170. 
Canterbury  Cathedral,  135,  137. 
Capitol,  United  States,  202. 
Caracalla,  baths  of,  74 
Chambers,  Sir  W.,  igo. 
Chapter-houses,  144. 
Chartres  Cathedral,  127,  128. 


Cheops,  pyramid  of,  12,  15. 
Chevet^  in,  118 

Church  of  the  Apostles,  Cologne, 
114. 

Circus  Maximus,  69. 
Cleopatra's  needle,  21. 
Cloaca  Maxima,  54. 
Cologne  Cathedral,  154. 
Colonial    architecture,  American, 
197. 

Colosseum,  67. 
Colour  decoration,  28,  44. 
Columbian  Exposition,  206. 
Concrete  in  Roman  buildings,  58. 
Corinthian  order,  38,  50. 
Cyclopean  masonry,  33,  55. 

D. 

Doges'  Palace,^  153. 
Dome,  Byzantine,  90. 

 of  St.  Paul's,  186. 

Doric  order,  17,  37,  39. 

Dosser et,  88. 

Duomo  at  Florence,  150,  157. 
Durham  Cathedral,  140,  141. 

E. 

Earl's  Barton,  Saxon  work  at,  116, 
117- 

Early  Christian  builders,  80. 
Egyptian  columns,  26,  27. 

 inscriptions,  24. 

Elgin  marbles,  43,  192. 
Elizabethan  mansions,  179,  180,  183. 
English  cathedral  plan,  134. 
Ephesus,  temple  at,  50. 
Erechtheum,  49. 
Etruscan  tombs,  55. 
Evelyn's  diary,  184,  185. 


211 


212         STORY  OF  THE  ART  OF  BUILDING. 


F. 

Fan-tracery,  144. 
Fire  of  London,  185. 
Flying  buttress,  124,  125. 
Franciscan  monks  as  builders,  149. 

G. 

Giotto's  tower,  152. 
Glass,  painted,  125,  142. 
Golden  House  of  Nero,  65. 
Gothic,  meaning  of,  121,  122. 
Greek  temple  plan,  37,  39. 

H. 

Haddon  Hall,  177,  179. 
Hagia  Sophia,  church  of,  91. 
Hardwicke  Hall,  179. 
Henry  VIL,  tomb  of,  178. 
Houses  of  Parliament,  193. 
Hunt,  Richard  M.,  205. 
Hypostyle  Hall  at  Karnak,  22. 

I. 

Inigo  Jones,  184. 
Ionic  order,  46,  61. 

J. 

John  Thorpe,  181. 

K. 

Karnak,  temples  at,  21,  23. 
King's  chamber,  14. 
King's  College  Chapel,  144, 


L. 

Latrobe,  Benjamin  H.,  202. 
Leaning  tower  at  Pisa,  106. 
Lighting  of  Greek  temples,  37. 
Longfellow's  house,  198. 
Louvre,  175. 

M. 

Maison  Carree,  Nimes,  66,  67. 
Mansard  roof,  177. 
Mausoleum  at  Halicarnassus,  52. 
^Hchelangelo,  171,  176. 
Mihrab,  or  prayer  niche,  97. 
Milan  Cathedral,  151. 
Mohammed,  95. 


Mosaics,  use  of,  83,  86. 
Mosque  at  Cordova,  99. 
Mouldings,  Gothic,  146. 
Mycena",  Lion  Gate  at,  34. 

N. 

Newgate  Prison,  190. 

Norman  work,  examples  of,  120. 

  features  of,  118. 

Notre  Dame  du  Port,  110. 

O. 

Opera  House,  Paris,  191. 
Opus  Alexandrinum,  86. 
Orders  of  Roman  architecture,  61. 

P. 

Palladio,  173,  184. 

Pan-American  Exposition,  201,  206. 
Pantheon,  72. 

Parish  churches  in  England,  145. 

Parthenon,  39,  42,  45,  191. 

Pavia,  certosa  at,  151,  166. 

Pepys,  Samuel,  184. 

Persepolis,  ruins  at,  30. 

Petrie's  discoveries  in  Egypt,  18,  78. 

Pompeian  decoration,  77. 

  houses,  76. 

Pyramids,  12. 

R. 

Ramessium,  24,  25. 
Ravenna,  churches  at,  87. 
Ribbed  vaulting,  14,  121. 
Richardson,  Henr^^  Hobson,  208. 
Romanesque,  in  America,  207. 
Roman  temple  plan,  62. 
Rusticated  masonry,  163,  176. 

S. 

S.  Francesco  at  Rimini,  162. 

S.  George's  Hall,  Liverpool,  192,  19-, 

S.  Mark's,  Venice,  03,  i68. 

S.  Martin's-in-the-Fields,  189. 

S.  Mary-le-Strand,  189. 

S.  Pancras,  London,  192. 

S.  Paul's  Cathedral,  185-188. 

S.  Paul's-Outside-the-Walls,  81. 

S.  Peter's,  13,  170,  186. 

S.  Zeno,  Verona,  104. 

Sainte  Chapelle,  Paris,  123. 

Salisbury  Cathedral,  138,  139,  141. 

Saxon  remains,  116. 


INDEX. 


Sculpture,  excellence  of  Greek,  43. 
Seville  Cathedral,  156. 
Sky-scrapers,  194,  195,  206. 
Somerset  House,  190. 
Spanish-American  architecture,  200. 
Spinelli  Palace,  168. 
Strozzi  Palace,  164. 

T. 

Temple  Bar,- 185. 

Theatres,  Greek,  52. 

Thebes,  20. 

Theseum,  38. 

Tiryns,  walls  at,  33. 

Tracery,  development  of,  125,  142. 

Transepts,  origin  of,  82,  83. 

Trinity  Church,  Boston,  208. 

Trinity  Church,  New  York,  204. 

Triumphal  arches,  69. 


U. 

Upjohn,  Richard,  204. 

V. 

Vocal  Memnon,  22. 

W. 

Walter,  Thomas  U.,  203. 
Westminster  Abbey,  142,  144. 
Wingless  Victory,  temple  of, 
Wollaton  Hall,  179,  180. 
Wren,  Sir  C,  185,  188. 

X. 

Xerxes,  Hall  of,  30. 


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